Fairy High
by kurisu313
Summary: AU High School fic. A tale of the Football players and Cheerleaders of Fairy High as they go through the struggles of being hormonal teenagers while dealing with the outside pressures of Phantom High and others.
1. A Brewing War

**Fairy High**

**Chapter 1**

**A Brewing War**

"Girls!" Mira huffed, clapping her hands together for emphasis. "This is supposed to be our showstopper! The big finale, the climax! I want to see it done right!"

Fairy High's cheerleading squad was trying to extricate themselves from a human dog pile on the gym mats. Consisting of ten members dressed in the pink red and white costumes of their school, they represented some of the most powerful women in the school.

"Maybe if Lucy didn't weigh so damn much!" Evergreen snorted.

"I am not heavy!" Lucy retorted. "It's Cana who's taking most of the weight and you don't hear her complaining!"

"No, it's fine," Cana assured them. Along with Evergreen and Bisca, she formed the bottom of the pyramid. "It only gets to be a burden if Levy fluffs her landing."

"It's not my fault if I miss!" Levy shouted. "I'm not throwing myself!" The small girl looked nervous, glancing over at Erza fearfully. It was the red head's prodigious strength that catapulted the smaller girl to the top of the pyramid on top of Lucy and Lisanna.

"It's true, I missed the mark," Erza agreed dispassionately. "It happens if Levy's weight changes. I won't miss again now that I've got the measure of it."

"I've gained weight?" Levy gasped.

"No. Eat more."

"Fine! Now, Wendy, Laki, Kinana! Don't just stand around like wooden dolls because you're not part of the pyramid! I want you giving it your all as well!" The three girls almost saluted. Mira wasn't known as the demon for no reason. You didn't give her cause to get angry with you. "Listen, we've got a month before the first match of the season and it's a big one! We are not going to let the vixens at Phantom High get the best of us. Are we?"

"No!" The girls chorused their assent.

**===][===**

"Aaaargh!" Natsu roared with anger more than pain as the world span head over heels around him, the cold grass greeting him in a most unwelcome manner. In an instant he was on his feet, his red helmet thrown aside in anger. "What the hell was that, you asshole!?"

Laxus smirked, removing his helmet. "That was a perfectly legal block. You didn't duck in time."

"You could have taken my head off!"

"So? It's not like you use it for anything."

Coach Macao ran over blowing his whistle. "Break it up! Natsu, take five and cool your head!"

"You're only siding with him cuz he's the principal's grandson," Natsu hissed. The reaction from Laxus was instantaneous, anger flaring in his eyes as he rounded on Natsu.

"It ain't got anything to do with that! He's siding with me because I'm right!"

"I said break it up! Both of you, hit the showers. You're done for today!" Macao demanded. Both boys protested, but the coach was sick to the back teeth with it and forced them away. "Damn it, but they are my best two players."

"Less of that, coach!" Gray said cheerily. "You've still got me, this big lug," he gestured at Elfman, "and Jet's the best runner in the whole damn league!"

"Alright, Gray! I'm going to give you the chance to lead on this next play since you want it so much."

The two teams lined up again. Fried and Bixlow looked ready to defend Laxus' honour in his place. Let them, Gray thought. He had all the people he needed on this side. While both of them went down like pansies to any kind of tackle, Jet and Droy made an excellent catcher/thrower pair. Then again, Bixlow was probably the best thrower on the entire team. With Laxus as an enormously talented blitzer, they could make a much better combo. But Laxus wasn't here right now, Gray thought with a grin.

Gray's play worked and he could watch the cogwheels whirr in Fried's brain. An incredibly bright young man, there was no way that he hadn't come up with a stunning counter play already. A cunning outside play saw a point to Fried's side. Gray tensed. This was a battle for supremacy.

**===][===**

The sea of students parted before them wordlessly. As two of the highest ranked cheerleaders and football stars, Natsu and Lucy might just be the power couple of Fairy High. And seeing the wrathful expression on Natsu's face made everyone move out of the way faster.

"That was bullshit!" He growled. "Laxus just thinks that he's better than everyone else!"

"By beating you fair and square?" Lucy asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Yes! No! God damn it, stop being so reasonable! Whose side are you on?"

"I'm sure you'll show him next time," Lucy said reassuringly.

"Damn straight! We've got a while to prepare for the first game of the season and I am not letting Phantom High get even a single touchdown! Those bastards are all just ghetto punks, anyway." Natsu frowned slightly. "Though, I have heard that they've got a new star player. Apparently he was an amateur boxer before switching over to football. He must be built like a tank."

Lucy smiled. "You sound excited."

"Of course, hihi! No point in playing if the other team aren't worth beating!" Natsu was grinning at the prospect.

**===][===**

Jet's hand hovered over the chessboard with the precision of a hawk deciding which rabbit was the best choice.

"Move the rook," Droy advised. Jet's hand falteringly went to the piece.

"I wouldn't," Levy said, lazily flicking the page of the book she was reading without looking up. They were sitting in the library, the only place Levy cared to spend her lunch break. It was a bit hard for the trio, being both classified as the 'jocks' and the 'nerds' at different times. They were the only footballers and cheerleader that ever still got an occasional swirly.

Jet moved his hand over to his knight, jumping up to take a pawn near the backfield. Levy looked over briefly before moving her queen through the space vacated by the knight to take Jet's rook and place his king in check.

"Wow, Levy!" They gushed. "You're so smart!"

"No, it's not a big deal," she replied, waving away the praise.

**===][===**

Perhaps the crowd had parted for Natsu and Lucy, but they scurried out of the way like frightened vermin as Laxus strode down the corridor, flanked by his little posse. Evergreen was trying to tell him about the progress the cheerleading squad had made for the match, but he didn't seem interested. He also didn't seem interested in Fried and Bixlow's exploits on the pitch, much to their dismay.

"Laxus, is something wrong?" Fried ventured cautiously.

"All of this training, just to beat Phantom High. They're nothing more than a bunch of street rats. Scum that'll never amount to anything. It's annoying." Phantom High basically existed within a large ghetto of poor housing and council estates. It had a high level of crime, both amongst the student body and the teachers. There were rumours of Headmaster Jose's sticky fingers being in a few scams.

"Doesn't Gray live fairly close to there?" Bixlow wondered lazily.

"On the outskirts," Fried agreed.

"Nothing compared to midget," Evergreen huffed haughtily. "She's right from the middle of the area."

Fried frowned slightly, noticing their current course. "Um… class is that way."

"Screw it," Laxus said lightly. "I'm skipping class. You guys with me?" And of course, they were.

**===][===**

"Listen!" Mr Capricorn rapped, smacking the whiteboard. "I feel like none of you have been paying any attention. I don't care how excited you are for the upcoming game, you must study. Miss Heartphilia! Perform this derivation!"

"Uh… dy by dx equals… three x squared plus four?" She guessed. Capricorn confirmed that it was correct to a relieved sigh and wrote a much more complicated equation on the board.

"Mr Dragneel!"

"Uh... oh god.. dx by dy…"

"You have already failed!" Capricorn snapped. "It is always dy by dx! Miss Marvel, can you please make me feel like I have not failed you as a teacher?"

"dy/dx= 12x cubed + 4x squared - 2x + 6!" Wendy said quickly.

"Thank you! Now, please perform the exercises in the studybook quietly." The class fell into semi silence as they worked. Lucy kept pushing Natsu back as he tried to peek at her work. Eventually, Lisanna helped him from the other side. Behind them, Wendy and Romeo shyly helped each other through the problems. Behind them, there was a small wager pool going on as to which was going to ask the other out first.

"It's manly to ask out a girl. It has to be Romeo," Elfman declared.

"Tch. A little old fashioned big boy, but I doubt Wendy's got the nerve so I agree," Gray said with a severe nod.

"And you two have girlfriends?" Bisca asked archly. Both boys shut their mouths as Alzack giggled. "Seriously, you two are football stars; you could have your pick of any of the girls!"

"I'm not interested in being weighed down," Gray said a bit tetchily. Elfman looked a bit nervous. The girl he wanted had no eyes for him. Her stony gaze was fixated on Laxus' rising star.

"Mr Fullbuster!" Capricorn snapped. "I hear a lot of talking. Do I take it that you have answers you'd like graded?" There was a momentary panicked bluster and then the class returned to silence. Finally, the bell signalling the end of the day rang, and they were able to leave.

**===][===**

Gray got off the bus and jumped behind a nearby wall with the precision of a ninja. Glaring over the top, he resolved to get to his house unmolested this time. He stalked down the road, using every tree for shelter. He glanced around. Okay, it was completely clear. He stepped out.

"Gray-sama!" Juvia cried, wrapping her arms around his bicep. Gah! How did she do that!? Juvia was one of Phantom High's cheerleaders, but you'd never guess by how many layers she wore normally. It was September, but she was wrapped up like it was the middle of January. "How was your day, Gray-sama?"

"Uh… fine," he groused. "Still getting ready to beat you guys up."

"While Juvia deeply wishes for Gray-sama's victory, I'm afraid that it isn't going to happen," she said with a confident smile. "You have yet to meet Gajeel-kun."

"He can't be all that," Gray replied dismissively.

"You have no idea. They call him a monster with no empathy. They say that he got kicked out of boxing for killing an opponent in the ring."

"Who is 'they'?"

"Well… they are rumours, but Gajeel-kun is not someone to meet in a dark alley. Juvia cares for Gray-sama too much to let that happen!" She squealed happily as she hugged his arm with all of her might. Gray yanked and pulled, but there was no escaping.

**===][===**

Damn it, Levy swore bitterly. Why had she taken so many books from the library? Again. It wasn't like she didn't know how heavy they were. She kept readjusting the heavy burden within her arms. She also had the longest commute of any Fairy High student. After getting off of the bus she had to walk for almost an hour.

As she approached the dingy council estate that she lived in, she became more wary of passing lowlifes. The crime rate was distressingly high around here, and she was an obvious target. Today was not to be her lucky day. A young man in a hoodie let out a wolf whistle.

"Damn girl, you look fine in that uniform!" He said crudely. Levy ignored him and hurried on. He took offence to that and grabbed her arm. "Hey, I paid you a compliment, bitch."

"Please let me go," Levy asked as evenly as she could manage.

"And why should I?"

"The lady asked you politely," a new voice growled. The thug looked around and his face paled with abject terror. Levy barely dared to look at the newcomer, a tall boy with a multitude of piercings and piercing red eyes.

"I'm sorry, Gajeel!" The boy garbled and ran away at high speed. The boy, Gajeel apparently, snorted in amusement as he fled. Levy looked up at him and swallowed.

"Um… thank you," she said quietly. He was just so scary that she couldn't elevate her voice any more.

"No problem, Shorty. I just don't like punks picking on girls."

"My name is Le-"

"Why the fuck would I care about your name?" Gajeel ground out, looking down at her malevolently.

"Well, I recognize yours," Levy retorted, feeling her anger rise. "Gajeel Redfox. Phantom High's new star player. Though I'm surprised that you aren't wearing a jersey like the jocks at my school."

"Oh? That little cheerleader's uniform makes you a bright pink target in these parts; why would I want that kind of problem? Why would I want to wear team colours? They're nothing to do with me."

"But it's your team. Don't you care about your teammates?"

Gajeel chuckled. "No. I care more about yours. I look forward to fighting worthy opponents."

"It's a game, not a battle."

This time, Gajeel laughed out loud. "This is High School American Football, Shortstack! This isn't a sport; it's a religion in this country! A religion people are happy to see blood spilled over. It's not a game, it's a war. Careful where you're standing when the battle starts."

**===][===**

"You really should put that out," Cana noted, watching the smoke rise lazily from the end of the cigarette. "It's not good for your health." Bacchus smile lopsidedly and stubbed it out in an ashtray.

"Better, princess?"

"I don't think that you can call me that while drinking shots!" She replied, matching that cocky grin. He chuckled in agreement,

"Why is it that I can only find another hard drinker from an entire different school district? At least one of my age."

"People seem to think that seventeen year olds shouldn't be drinking, I suppose. I, on the other hand think that this precious nectar should be shared out in liberal doses." She laughed dirtily and knocked back the shot, slamming the glass back down for Bacchus to refill.

"That's what I like about you Cana; you're wild. Tell me; why are you in the cheerleading squad? It doesn't seem to suit you. You're not the preppy sort."

She leaned forward, revealing her cleavage and whispered. "I'm complicated like that." Bacchus blushed slightly before grinning again. Definitely a wild one. "Any way, I want to know if you've heard anything about this new ringer of Phantom's. Are any of the rumours true?"

"Ah? I'm hurt, Cana. Here I thought you were after my stunning charm. Hrmph. You'd think that finding out about a death in the ring would be easy, but nothing's come to light. With the right people paid off, this sort of thing has a nasty habit of disappearing."

"A shame."

Bacchus downed another shot. "But, I have found out something. It may not be all Gajeel. I think they might be using his reputation as a smokescreen. I'd advise not letting your guard down before any of Phantom's players. I'm glad that your team is meeting them before us."

"Ah yes, the Cerberus team is a bit wet, I'd heard. Present company excepted, of course."

Bacchus laughed. "Yes, our team is a bit more full of puppies than hounds, but tell you what, it's our cheerleaders you wanna be scared of."

"Oh?"

"Since the merger between Cerberus and Mermaid High, we gained this scary lot of girls. Kagura's the worst. Far more wild than our boys, I'd wager."

"Present company excepted, of course," Cana purred. "But no matter, we'll take them on. Our squad's a perfect combo. A couple of powerhouses, a midget to hurl around and a tonne of beauties of all sorts. We can take them on."

"It'll certainly be wild. Now, how about we switch to a proper drink?" He asked, plucking a bottle of vodka from his shelf.

"I thought you'd never ask!"

**A/N: So… yeah. Sorry, I just had this idea floating about and wanted to post it. It's basically Glee minus the music, if that makes any sense whatsoever. Girls always in cheerleading uniform, boys always in jerseys. Because clothing design is hard. If anyone's seen Leah Dizon's song Love you, that's basically the girl's uniform right there.**

**Trying not to make this too GaLe centric, but I just can't help myself. I am finding the potential dynamic of Canacchus interesting, though. **

**Basically, everyone is seventeen here. That doesn't make many changes, but Wendy is her Edolas grown up version and Romeo's basically like a black haired Natsu. Also, I guess Elfman and Lisanna are non-identical twins now, but details! Also it allows me to make Wendy bigger than my beloved tiny Levy-chan so I can hurl her around in routines!**

**Levy: **Uh, thanks I guess…

**Also, I'm English. My entire knowledge of American Football comes from Blood Bowl, so don't judge me too much for errors. It's kind of nice to give Jet and Droy roles beyond comic relief. I was gonna make Droy fat, but making him thrower to Jet's receiver makes a lot of sense.**


	2. Friendships and Rivalries

**Fairy High**

**Chapter 2**

**Friendships and Rivalries**

"So, we all know the rules of the game?" Lucy asked. It was Saturday and she had organized to go to the cinema with four of her friends, namely Levy, Cana, Wendy and Erza. They had a little wager going. They were all going to flirt with the poor unsuspecting teen at the kiosk and try and get some money off their admission fee. The winner would be the one with the most off.

"Hey there, big boy," Lucy purred, leaning over the desk. "How are you today?"

"Uh.. I'm fine," the boy stammered.

"So…Edward," she began, reading his nametag. "I need a ticket to see the eleven o'clock showing of the Croods."

"That'll be ten dollars."

"Oh? Silly me, it seems that I'm a bit short." Lucy battered her eyelashes. "Could you help me out, Eddie-weddie?"

**===][===**

"My sex appeal was only worth two dollars!?" Lucy fumed on the other side, waiting near the confection stand.

"You still beat us," Cana noted, nodding at Erza. They'd only got one dollar off. Wendy came up next, having chickened out and just paid in full. She was too shy to do something like that. Levy skipped up last.

"I paid $5.60, is that good?" She asked. Lucy's jaw dropped.

"I paid eight! What did you do!?"

"Um… I just asked for a ticket," Levy admittedly nervously.

"And he gave you a $4.40 discount for no reason?" Erza asked.

"Wait, isn't five sixty the child rate?" Cana asked. Levy looked at the ticket and looked shocked.

"He thought I was a child?" She wept. Levy pouted as Cana giggled and rested an elbow on her head. "I swear, one day I will find a boyfriend who will respect my height and not make fun of me for it."

**===][===**

"This is fucking bullshit," Gajeel growled, turning away from the door he had just knocked on. He waited impatiently, scanning the rows of house. Not poor, not rich. A darn sight better than his squalor though. He thought briefly on the small Fairy that he'd encountered before. How did something so small flourish in that hellhole? He shook off the thought. He turned as the door opened.

A young man stood there, leaning lazily on the door frame. He wasn't wearing a shirt, revealing his muscles as he only wore loose trousers. His hair was drawn back into a Chinese style bun.

"Ah? Who the hell are you this early on a Saturday morning? If it's about religion or double-glazing then fuck off."

"Tch. Watch your manners, dickhead. Do I look like a choir boy to you?" Gajeel growled.

"No, you look more like a twat."

Gajeel clenched his fists, struggling to keep his anger in check. "You're Bacchus, right?"

"Yes I am, Gajeel," he replied, nodding sagely, before belching.

"Are you still drunk?" Gajeel asked, waving off the fact that Bacchus had apparently recognized him.

"Lesson number one: you don't get a hangover unless you stop drinking." He laughed in an annoying fashion, clearly amused by his own joke. After a bit of prodding, he relented to let Gajeel in. They both sat down around a low table and Bacchus poured two drinks.

"I don't trust any man unless he can handle his liquor," Bacchus stated, pushing the glass over to Gajeel and then lighting a cigarette. Gajeel grinned and swallowed the drink whole.

"I ain't no lightweight," he clarified, allowing Bacchus to refill the glass.

"No, I figured you wouldn't be. Now, what can I do for you? This clearly isn't a social meeting." At the question, Gajeel looked up and around, studying the small house.

"You live here by yourself?" Gajeel asked. Bacchus appeared annoyed by the question, but there was an undertone of honesty to Gajeel's words that made him answer.

"Parents died in a car crash three years ago. Since then my big sister has been supporting me so I don't go into childcare."

"I know that feeling," Gajeel replied, nodding slowly. "We've been investigating the fairies for our upcoming game. I'm amazed at how many have similar sob stories of missing parents." Bacchus didn't respond, but lifted a glass to drink. Two bits of information there. Who was 'we', and apparently Gajeel knew that pain too. Had he lost a parent?

"That's an odd thing to research about a high school football team," he said in response after a moment.

Gajeel grinned. "That's Phantom's way. Any bit of information is deemed valuable, if it might help us crush 'em. Seems a waste of time to me, I'd rather just sock 'em in the face."

"Three years of amateur boxing. Sounds like you. Bit of a boring sport in my mind; no finesse."

"A black belt in Jiu Jitsu would say that."

"Ah? You have done your research."

"I heard they called you the Drunk Falcon. A natural born fighter whose only problem was showing up drunk too often to class. Problem is, you fought better as a drunk than sober. No coach would hold on to you for long. And the smoking can't have helped."

"Ah, ah. I get enough of that from Wild Girl. I don't need it from you too. Life's for living, not for regrets. Now, speaking of no regrets, are you actually going to ask me what you came here for?"

Gajeel nodded. All of this dissimilation was boring. "No big deal. As I already told you, Phantom's all about finding any weakness and exploiting it. We know that you often have contact with one of the Fairies. We want to know any information that you might have."

Bacchus looked down from over the shot glass in his mouth, regarding Gajeel's words.

"And what if I don't want to?"

"Have you ever wondered who would win in a fight?" Gajeel asked easily, as if pondering. "A black belt in martial arts or a champion boxer?"

"No, I haven't. I know who would win."

"Me too," Gajeel replied, nodding. "Still, I wonder how well that martial artist would do if his beau was threatened in any way. Would he still fight well? Or would he roll over like a faithful puppy for his master?"

There was no large move from Bacchus, but Gajeel felt the small shift to his posture, the change that made him ready to lock horns in an instant. After a moment, Bacchus blew a ring of smoke and leaned back, diffusing the tension.

"What am I getting worked up about? You wouldn't dare lay a finger on her."

"You think I'm scared of-"

"Two words. Gildartz Clive." A smile spread across his face as he saw the panicked expression briefly surface past Gajeel's cocky demeanour before being banished. He'd mentioned checking up on their backgrounds. It appeared that he at least suspected Cana's illegitimate father. "Still, if you wanna threaten her, go ahead. I wonder where they'll find your body. Now, unless you wanna rumble in the middle of suburbia with the sun still up, go ahead. Try me. Word to the wise; I'm pretty wasted, hehehe."

"You'll regret not helping us. We'll play your team soon after."

"That a threat?"

"A promise."

"How cliché," Bacchus drawled, laughing drunkenly. "Now that we've shared a drink, I think we can call each other friends, so let me be honest. I thought the great Gajeel Redfox would be more wild than this. It doesn't suit you to be doing grunt work as someone else's lapdog."

"Oh? Then I will promise you that when we meet on the pitch, I'll show you just how 'wild' I can be." Gajeel laughed and got up. As he exited the house he heard Bacchus at the door and turned back.

"Just one thing; if you threaten my girl again, you'll be eating that concrete." He slammed the door shut with a bawdy laugh.

**===][===**

"That was the best movie ever!" Lucy squealed as they exited the cinema.

"It's a bit pathetic that a few of us cried," Cana laughed, grinning at the two blue headed girls.

"I wasn't crying!" Wendy said, clearly on the verge of tears again.

"It was so sad when he saved his family," Levy agreed, wiping her eyes. "And Erza cried too!"

"I-I was just trying to fit in!" Erza lied. Cana laughed again and they headed down to the video arcade nearby. It was a pretty cheap and tacky place, but fun enough to spend an hour or so. Cana played on the shooting arcade after Wendy won a teddy from the crane game. Lucy and Levy dunked skeeballs, which the blonde won by a large margin. Then Erza stepped up in Levy's place, eyes alight like a daemon. It did not go well for Lucy.

"Hey, who's the weirdo?" Cana asked, pointing at a blue-haired girl spying around a pillar.

"Oh, I've seen her! She's from Phantom high," Levy stated. "I don't know her name though."

"What is she looking at?" Wendy asked and they all leaned to the side. Five different kinds of reaction passed over their faces, ranging from amusement to embarrassment.

Natsu and Gray (Shirtless for some reason) were playing DDR. In a very serious manner. Their faces were alight with serious concentration as their bodies jived in time with the music. It was clearly the deadliest of duels. Nearby, Romeo laughed at his friend's antics.

"So dreamy!" The blue-haired girl cried, eyes fixed on Gray's jiggling backside. Suddenly, the song ended and the pair fell to the floor drenched in sweat.

"Ten songs and still no winner," Gray gasped.

"I ain't backing down!" Natsu roared. "I can still go on - I can - I just wanna rest for a bit!"

"What is going on here?" Lucy asked as the five girls stepped onto the scene. There was a very visible moment of panic from the boys, caught in the embarrassing act. Romeo laughed and answered. Four girls did not notice that directly addressed Wendy rather than the group.

"I know this looks silly, but it's a kind of training. A fun way to build up mobility in your legs. It's just that these two turn it into a competition!"

"Y-you girls wouldn't understand!" Natsu gasped, trying to regain his breath.

"Wouldn't understand!?" Erza barked, making the balls flail with fear. "We'll show you what we cheerleaders can do! Lucy, with me!"

"Yes, I wanna show Natsu!" The two girls stepped onto the dance platform, stretching lightly as the machine got ready to play a song. (A/N: rather than admit how old I am, imagine what song you want.) They'd spent so much of their lives dancing, as was the life of a cheerleader – though Erza would probably prefer to be a blitzer – and they rocked it out.

"Luce is so great!" Natsu said very, very quietly.

"Erza's not too shabby," Gray admitted. Somewhere behind him, there was a strangled grunt of annoyance at him praising a girl and Juvia fled.

"Now, it's time for me to have some fun!" Cana said as the song ended, shoving Wendy and Romeo forward. "I think you two should take a dance together!" The shy couple blustered and blushed, but there was no escape. The group giggled at their obvious discomfort, despite clearly being happy together. Ah, young love.

"Cana!"

"Oh God, please no," Cana whimpered as a pair of powerful arms wrapped around her from behind. Oh hell, this was embarrassing. Everyone was looking as the middle aged man in a police chief's uniform hugged her.

"I've missed you! You look so cute today! Are these your friends? Introduce us!"

"This… is… my… dad," Cana croaked. There was a collective gasp. How on earth could the raucous Cana have a policeman for a father!? "Dad, this is… everyone!"

"Nice to meet you! It's so good to see that me little Canawana has such good friends!" Gildartz said cheerfully.

"Canawana?" There was a collective repressed giggle as she glared death at her friends.

"Why are you here?"

"I was just walking past and this young thing ran out crying something about dancing and the colour grey, I dunno, I didn't catch it. Thought I'd just pop in and check if anything in here had happened. It is y civic duty, after all! And there you are, being all cute and adorable!"

"Dad, I am not cute and adorable!"

"I dunno, Canawana sounds pretty cute," Levy giggled. _That's for leaning on my head._

"Now, which one is your boyfriend? This Bacchus?" He asked. There was a very loud panicky squeal from Cana as she grabbed Gray.

"This one, daddy! See, look at how he's not drinking alcohol and leading me astray!"

"What!?" Gray cried. Nearby, there was a crack as a returned Juvia ground her teeth together.

**===][===**

"Come on, brother Elf!" Lisanna called as she and Mira walked down the pavement.

"Of course, if it's too much, we can share," Mira teased, knowing the outburst to come.

"Real Men carry things for their sisters," Elfman declared, labouring under the burden of their shopping spree. Clothes and shoes and jewellery galore. Real Men could bear the horror of shopping with women! Still, he'd be happier if his sisters had a little less money; at least it couldn't go on as long then! But a coaches' salary was decent, particularly in a school as prestigious as theirs.

They turned a corner, ending up on the road outside of Fairy High, closed for the weekend. They flinched as there was the sound of breaking glass. With his prodigious height, Elfman could see over the wall where three youngsters in hoodies were throwing rocks at the windows, breaking them one by one.

"OI!" Elfman roared. Flinching at the sound of his voice, the youths ran away without looking back. Without hesitating, he dropped the bags and ran after them, leaving his sisters far behind as he vaulted the wall. He chased them around to the side of the building where they were leaping over the wall to re-enter the street. He hurled this wall in turn, to be confronted by the sight of them fleeing in three different directions. He hated to admit it, but they were pretty damn fast.

"Not Manly," he spat. Grudgingly, he went to join his sisters.

"They were breaking the windows?" Mirajane gasped, surveying the damage. "Why?"

"It's a message," Elfman growled. "Phantom."

"You don't know that!" Lisanna chastised, drawing her mobile and tapping in 9-1-1.

**===][===**

"Fuck! That's the cops!" Totomaru wailed, as he heard silence in the distance.

"Non, non, non! I thought we'd have more time!" Sol cried, his accent worsening as he panicked.

"Stop panicking!" Aria growled. "They're heading for the school, you nitwits. We'll be long gone before they can find us. Just keep running and ditch your hoodies at some point – it'll make you harder to track if you change clothes."

Separating again, the three boys fled for their lives. They hoped this was worth it. The maybe, just maybe, Jose wouldn't order plan B.

**===][===**

"I'm disappointed, Gajeel-chan," Jose said smoothly, leaning back in his chair. Phantom High might be so poor as to be falling apart at the hinges, but the headmaster's office was well appointed. Gajeel lounged arrogantly in a seat on the other side of the desk. God, to be in school at the weekend…

"What did you want? I couldn't just beat the shit outta him unless you want your star player in juvie when the match arrives! He's a dead end anyway. No way he had any useful info."

"You understand that this is not a game?" Jose asked. "We have a great many backers betting with us on this game. A lot of money rides on our victory, Gajeel-chan. So much so that people may die if it does not materialise. At the very minimum you can expect a savage beating."

"Not my fault if you've got your finger in so many shady pies," Gajeel said lazily. In response, Jose slammed his fists into the desk and rose, making Gajeel stop with an unusual feeling of fear.

"I want you to do what I'm paying you for! Now, I'm going to give you one more chance, before I consign you back to a pitiful life with no future. Make an example out of one of them. Hurt them so badly that they'll never walk straight again."

"If I attack a player, there'll be repercussions," Gajeel stated.

"I don't want you to attack a player, I want you to send the most serious message possible! Attack one of their cheerleaders."

"H-hey!" Gajeel objected. "I ain't in the business of attacking defenceless things!" It was true. He may be something of a thug, but he was a trained boxer. He believed that a fight should have some sport in it. What was the point if it wasn't a challenge?

"No? Remember what happened in that ring? I wonder what would happen to you if that found its way to the police's attention?"

"Y-you can't be…"

"I am deadly serious. Find one of their girls. Put her in hospital. Show the Fairies that we mean business, but for fuck's sake, don't leave any evidence behind! And remember, if you don't, I will find another person to do it and you will be ruined. Do you think that you can just walk away?"

**A/N: To reassure my audience – I promise that Gajeel will not hurt Levy in any way. Not in this universe, anyway. I must admit, I'm enjoying Bacchus very much as a character.**


	3. A Warning Message

**Fairy High**

**Chapter 3**

**A Warning Message**

It was cold, Levy thought as she walked down the cold morning roads. It didn't help that the cheerleader's uniform was a little skimpy, but at least it came with a jacket for cold weather. Soon, the sun would rise and all would be well in her little world.

She was doing a newspaper round. It didn't pay much, but basically translated to one new book a week, so Levy did it anyway. She could use a bit more income in her life. She shifted the bag, still heavy with the weight of the papers inside.

She saw a jogger coming down the street in a gray tracksuit, hood covering his head. A familiar sight in the morning, but suddenly he swerved across the road to come stand before her.

"Yo Shortstack!" He said, pulling back his hood to reveal that it was Gajeel.

"I tried to tell you; my name is Levy!" She snapped, face colouring at the insult.

"I prefer Shorty," Gajeel said cheerily. "What'cha doing up so early on a Monday?"

"Are you blind?" Levy retorted. "I'm doing a paper round."

"That's so cute? Just like a child!" Seeing that she was about to clonk him with that heavy bag of hers, he held up hands in a gesture of 'I'm sorry'. "Well, I can't blame you for wanting more money in these parts. It's good to have a job."

Levy looked a little placated by the statement, but then her brows furrowed. "It wasn't you, was it?"

"What wasn't me?"

Levy reached into her bag and held up a newspaper, displaying the window damage at Fairy High. Gajeel frowned, looking at the headline. Vandals Break Windows at Fairy High. 'School open as usual' was written in smaller letters, much to the consternation of many a student.

"Nothing to do with me," Gajeel said offhandedly. "Maybe it was one of your guys."

"Maybe," Levy said, sounding unconvinced, which Gajeel couldn't blame her for. He shrugged. It sounded like something he would do. In fact, he'd been looking forward to a spot of vandalism. Who had beaten him to it? "Anyway, I have to be going. I don't want to be late."

"Live dangerously, Shorty! What are your teachers gonna do, give detention to a little teacher's pet like you? Gihi!"

"I am not a teacher's pet!" Levy huffed, puffing out her cheeks in an adorable fashion. "People just seem to think because I'm clever at some things I must be clever at all things! I'm rubbish at Geography or Art. I'm just really good with languages!"

"Reading and writing, you mean?" Levy nodded. Gajeel looked a little shifty suddenly. "Um… then can I ask you a favour? I've got a book report due… but I'm no good at reading."

"What book?" Gajeel took a step back as her eyes lit up suddenly. What the hell?

"Uh… Animal Farm."

"Oh, such a classic!" Levy squealed, clapping her hands together. "I love that book so much, but poor Boxer! It always makes me cry when he… ah, I'm going to spoil it for you!"

"It's a book, Shorty. No need to get so worked up."

"I'll pretend that I didn't hear that. If you want help… yeah, I can help you! I'd love to! You see that apartment building there? I live in apartment 313… that means it the thirteenth on floor three. Come around at about seven… no wait, I have practice… make it eight tonight and I'll help you!"

Gajeel looked down at the sunny girls radiating joy and positivity like the sun itself. What the hell? He wasn't used to such generosity and kindness from any human. Not since his mother, anyway. As he jogged on down the road, he never noticed the boy in a black hoodie following him.

**===][===**

"This was Phantom!" Natsu roared, standing on a desk. It was early, and the teacher hadn't yet arrived to the classroom yet. Several of the windows were boarded up. "We have to show them who is boss!"

"Natsu!" Erza shouted. "We are not thugs and hoodlums! If you want to show Phantom who is the better team, then do it on the pitch!"

"Are you kidding me? We have to go over there and fight fire with fire! They can't do this to us! We can't let them beat us down!"

"Natsu!" It was Lucy this time. "You're better than they are! Don't lower yourself to their level!"

"We're already lower than them," Laxus hissed, stepping into the classroom. "They've looked down upon us, thinking us weak. It's that attitude of not fighting back that lets them get away with it. In return, we don't repay the debt, we annihilate them, erase them from the map!"

"Laxus, shut up!" Spinning to face who had addressed him so poorly, he came face to face with Mira.

"Oh? What's a little coach like yourself doing here in class?" Laxus taunted with a lazy grin. To his amazement, Mira put him on his ass with a quick leg movement. He never saw it coming. "H-hey, you can't do that to a student!"

"I'm in a bad mood, Laxus. Don't make me show you why the girls call me 'the daemon'."

Laxus looked over at where the girls were all shivering to watch Mira. Clearly a few repressed memories there. Only Erza kept her composure. Evergreen shook her head slowly at Laxus. He made an annoyed sigh and got up.

"Listen up! Your teacher is busy for the moment, so I'm taking over this class. I see that we have a high percentage of football players and cheerleaders in this class, so at least most of you are familiar to me."

"Big sis, you can't teach English Lit," Elfman whispered. Lisanna nodded sadly.

"No, I have a plan. Class! We need to get our minds off of this horrible mess, so we're going to listen as we read through this book." She dropped a massive tome on her desk. It was easily over five hundred pages long. "Let's start with… Natsu!"

"Um… I can't read that!" Natsu cried.

"I forget Natsu, how many laps of the field were you running tonight. Five? Five hundred?"

"On second thoughts, I'll get started right away!" Natsu squeaked, laughing fakely as he came to the front of the class.

"Good!" Mira said happily. "Now, you only have to read five pages, then we'll switch to Gray. Everyone will read five pages and then the remaining five hundred will be read by Levy."

"Yay!" Levy squealed with joy.

**===][===**

"Faster!" Macao yelled. "We will not lose after what they did!"

"No sir!" The boys yelled, increasing their running pace around the pitch. The team was training extra hard. No one wanted to lose before, but now they were fired up. Winning was the only possibility. Defeat could not happen. At last, they sat panting on the grass.

"Listen up! I'm gonna read the line up for the starting eleven!" Macao stated, reading from a clipboard. "Natsu, Gray, Laxus, Elfman, Max!. You're all on the starting line. You want to get some aggression out? You've got it. Hold that line at any costs!"

"We'll smash in the faces of any who get past," Natsu promised with a wild grin.

"Alzack! Warren! Vijitor! Nab! You'll be on the wings. Press down and give them hell, keep them occupied! This is all for Jet's running play. You get downfield and Droy lands you the long bomb. Can you two handle that?"

"Yes sir!" Jet shouted.

"Oi!" Bixlow objected. "I'm a better thrower than Droy; why aren't I in the starting line-up? Or Fried?"

"You may be our best thrower, but Jet and Droy have a better working relationship. You and Fried will come on in the second half to wipe them out after Jet's run rings around them! We'll show them the strength of our Blitzers then! You up for that Laxus, Elfman?"

"Just try and stop me," Laxus said with a smirk.

Across the field, the cheerleaders were also going through their routines for the match. They were practising their big show stopper and Levy was looking decidedly nervous. In order to up their game, Mira had decided to add an extra throw into it.

"It's simple. Cana throws Levy to Erza before we form the pyramid around her. And then Erza throws Levy to the very top. It's not a big change."

"It's another chance to be sucking the ground," Levy said quietly.

"You're putting a lot of strain on my arms before the pyramid," Cana stated slowly. "I'm not sure that I can hold that. I know I'm the second strongest, but you need another plan. Why not have Wendy, Laki and Kinana work together to throw her?"

"Hmm. I want to get the angle right. I want them focussed on the throw and then –bam- the pyramid's right in the same spot." Mira chewed the end of her pen thoughtfully. "If they throw here… and then you form up here… and they go down… and then Erza… all right! Let's give this a shot!"

**===][===**

"Please let go!" Gray cried as the girl dragged him down the street.

"No!" Cana barked. "Dad wants to meet you. Well, not you – but I can't show him Bacchus – he reeks of alcohol and cigarette smoke. He needs his little princess to have a more upstanding boyfriend."

"But why me?" Gray wailed. Cana looked back and winked.

"You're the most handsome, right?" Gray was so taken aback by the praise that he started walking willingly and preening his hair. He began to unbutton his shirt – no, stop! Clothes on, Gray! Clothes on!

"How dare you!" A voice screeched. Gray turned to ice. Oh God, no. Juvia ran up behind them, waving her finger in Cana's face. "How dare you use the wonderful Gray-sama for you silly schemes? He should not be pretending to be your girl, but shouting his love for me from the rooftops!"

"Hey, I never said-"

"Who the hell are you?" Cana asked blandly.

"I am the future wife of Gray-sama! And I am your rival. Phantom's cheerleaders have developed a masterful routine! You will lose to us!"

"Sure, honey," Cana replied condescendingly. "There's no way you can beat our star member."

"We are not worried by Erza or Lucy-"

"See? That tells me that you have no idea how to run a good routine! Our star players aren't the big busty ones! No, we have a dozen of those! The star is the only one who can do the routine. The one so small, you might have just overlooked her completely!"

**===][===**

The door opened and Gajeel tensed instantly. He already didn't understand this girl at all. They were complete and utter strangers to one another and here she was inviting him into her apartment. He didn't understand such generosity.

And all the while, Jose's orders were ringing in his ears.

"Please come in!" She said cheerily. Gajeel followed her through the entrance, instantly noticing that books were piled everywhere. And he meant everywhere. It was like an episode of Hoarders, trying to move down the middle of all of the trash.

"So… you like books, then?" He asked sarcastically as they finally entered a clear area with a low table in it.

"Books are the best! You can live a thousand lives within the pages of books!" Levy stated cheerily. She sat down at the low table, crossing her legs and Gajeel mimicked her on the other side. "For instance, Animal Farm. How far are you in reading it?"

"Uh… five pages?"

"Oh."

"I'm not too good at reading." He dropped the book onto the table lazily. "It's just a jumble of shapes to me."

"Then I'll read it to you!"

"What?" Levy was scooting around the table to sit next to him. She picked up the book and began to read aloud, clear and precise. Gajeel wasn't really listening to the words; he was so out of his element. He was used to filthy environments and thuggish behaviour. This girl might have been the exact opposite of that, his complete antithesis. He shook his head and tried to pay attention. After five chapters, Levy stopped.

"What do you think so far?" She asked.

"Seems kind of girly," he replied dismissively. "All these cutesy farm animals."

"Eh? That's what you took from that? Didn't you see the violence of when they took the farm? This isn't a farmyard story; it's an allegory for how the lower classes are abused by the higher classes. Did you see how the pigs were so quick to assert control? It may have started with the best of intentions, but you'll see how they slip into corruption."

"Corruption in the higher ranks," Gajeel mumbled, his mind going to Jose and his shady dealings. He looked back down at Levy. "Well, I liked the goat. He spoke his mind, didn't give a crap what anyone thought!"

"Benjamin? He represents the sceptic. The idea that things will never change for the better. I don't think that's a good way to view life. I always loved Boxer for his belief in hard work to make things better, but I always cry when… well, I shouldn't spoil it."

"The world doesn't get better, Shorty. We all get shat upon by the guys above us."

"I refuse to believe that," Levy stated firmly. For a moment, Gajeel was sucked in by her sincerity. Her eyes were just so clear. He shook himself again.

"Well, that's enough for one night." He looked out of the window. "Jeez, it's pretty dark. Are your parents out at the movies or something?" Levy shook slightly at the question and Gajeel closed his eyes. "You live by yourself. That's why you live in this dump."

"It's no big deal," she replied quickly. "I have an aunt who vouches for me so I don't go into care. She… takes half of my welfare cheque to do so though, so I don't have much money."

After a long moment of looking down at her, Gajeel stood and made to leave. "If you ever need a helping hand, just ask."

**===][===**

"So, Bacchus! Looking forward to old man Gildartz' home made chilli? It's my little Canawana's favourite!" Gildartz beamed. Gray took a step back before the intensity. He was beginning to understand why Cana never spoke of her father.

"Dad, you're embarrassing me!" Cana huffed.

"No, I' not! Men know to communicate! Bacchus understands me perfectly!"

"Uh, yes?" Gray said slowly. Gildartz slapped him on the back so hard that for a moment he thought he'd broken every bone in his body. Holy crap, he was strong! He supposed that as a police chief, Gildartz must be well trained. Finally, they sat down at a table, three bowls of steaming food in front of them.

Gray took one bite and had to be very careful not to spit it back out. It was so spicy!

"Like it? That'll put hairs on your chest!" Gildartz grinned. Thankfully, Gray was spared a lie as there was a knock on the door. A moment later, Gildartz returned with a new guest and Gray felt his heart sink even further. It was Juvia.

"Cana said she was going to have dinner with her father and invited me since I'm her best friend." It was a bald faced lie, but Gildartz bought it.

"The more the merrier! Here, I made plenty!" The mood around the table plummeted as Juvia took a seat.

"So, Cana, this is Bacchus?"

"Um… yeah…," Cana croaked.

"He's so cute! How did you two meet?" Gildartz leaned forward at Juvia's question, clearly interested.

"School!"

"The Cinema!"

"Uh…ah… we met at the cinema first, but it turns out we went to school together," Cana 'clarified', managing to salvage their poorly coordinated lie.

"So great!" Juvia thrilled. "You must know so much about each other!"

"Of course, but not in a way we should be quizzed about," Gray replied with a weak laugh.

"Bacchus-san! I've heard that you're an amazing martial artist!"

"Really!?" Gildartz looked interested. "Now that's brilliant! I've often said that men must know how to defend themselves. Maybe this old man could take a chance to show you his moves. Don't go easy on me; I am trained in the police's combat methods!"

"N-no, you'll kill me," Gray said quietly. He found a better lie. "I've got a match coming up soon! I can't risk any strains, I'm afraid."

"Fair enough. I look forward to the game. I'll be cheering Cana on from the stands." The look on Cana's face suggested that he'd do just that. "You watch yourself. I hear a lot of bad things about Phantom's reputation. I shouldn't say too much, but their headmaster has a sordid past."

"We can handle ourselves," Gray said sternly.

"Well said!" Gildartz slapped a palm into the table so hard that the bowls all jumped.

"But Cana-san should be careful. I hear that the Phantom's have a really strong cheerleading squad," Juvia stated, glaring at her.

"They can try, but we'll steal the show," Cana promised.

"Oh, is that the time?" Gray cried. "I have to go! Nicetomeetyoubye!" He hurried out of the house as fast as he could go, followed a few moments later by Juvia. Cana let out a breath in relief. She'd survived.

"That was fun," Gildartz said happily. "I hope that next time I can meet your boyfriend."

"Dad! That was-"

"Come now, Cana. You can't lie to me. I don't know why you're ashamed of him, but as long as you're happy and safe, I don't care who you date. I love you, you know."

"I know," Cana said quietly. "But he's a bit of a drinker."

"Can't be any worse than you!" Gildartz chuckled. As she blustered, he talked over her. "You're not as good at hiding it as you may think you are. You're old enough to be making your own mistakes. Nothing wrong with alcohol, my dear child, just know your limits."

"Limits? I could drink you under the table!" Cana huffed. "But, thank you… father."

**===][===**

"It's been several days," Jose said to the boy in his office. "Gajeel is not going to do it. I still need him for the game, so I'm going to let this slide for now. I want you to do this for me."

The boy bowed. "Yes. Between following Gajeel-san and Juvia-san, I even have the perfect target in mind. Not only will I send a message, I'll take out the lynchpin of their entire routine."

**===][===**

Gajeel was feeling odd. Feelings that he'd never felt before. Under Levy's gentle guidance, learning seemed so much easier. He wanted to read more, to find out how the book ended. She made it interesting. Damn it, he wasn't used to this.

Fuck Jose, he could go jump off of a bridge. He couldn't hurt her. He was sure of that. It was wrong. He hated fighting pushovers. And that face… how could he raise a fist in anger against that smile?

"Gah, I'm becoming a pansy." He took the stairs to the third floor and walked along to her apartment door, ready for another session. Apparently, something was going to happen to Boxer, and he was getting nervous. He raised a hand to knock on the door, but suddenly realised it was ajar.

"Shrimp, you in there?" He asked warily, pushing the door open slowly. He froze as he saw the piles of books knocked over, a dent in the plaster work where a small body had been thrown into it. He began to move faster, seeing blood splatters.

He found her in the main living room on top of the desk they always used, splintered in half as she had clearly been thrown onto it. His breath caught. She was unconscious and badly beaten. Who had done this? He knelt and gently touched her.

"Shorty, can you hear me?" She stirred slightly, groaning in pain. As her eyes swung up to see his face, she shrieked in fear and scuttled away against her sofa.

"No, please! No more!"

"Shorty…"

"I've had enough! Please stop!"

"I'm not going to hurt…"

"Gajeel, please!" At those words, her eyes began to droop and she lost consciousness again. Gajeel stood there helplessly for a moment. He wanted to help, but he couldn't. Those eyes always full of warmth and joy now looked at him with abject fear. He turned around, drawing his mobile and tapping in 9-1-1. As he gave the ambulance instructions, he hurried out of the apartment. No one would believe that he hadn't done it if they found him there.

Jose.

He had ordered this, he was sure. He'd completed his mission of sending a message to Fairy Tail and given Gajeel a sharp warning in obedience, but who had actually done the deed? Totomaru and Sol didn't have the backbone for this. Could it be Aria? The bastard was pretty cold blooded.

But… Levy had seemed to think that he was going to hurt her. Was she delirious, or did the assailant resemble him in some way? His teeth ground together with frustration. If there was one thing he was capable of doing, it was descending into this school's seedy underbelly, finding the information he needed and tracking this bastard down.

And then he would kill him.

**Go on, guess who did it. Guess! It's probably obvious. **


	4. Friends and Foes

**Fairy High**

**Chapter 4**

**Friends and Foes**

As far as Natsu was aware, hospitals were the most depressing place on the planet. They weren't the clean, bright places they were on television. No, they were dull, dreary places full of human misery. Curtains drawn back to hide people crying at their misfortunes. Foul odours. Suffering everywhere.

Finally, he found the area where Levy was. She didn't even get a private room, but was on a ward, curtain pulled around her booth. He pulled back the curtain as he entered to find Lucy crying over her prone friend. Natsu winced a little. He didn't know Levy very well, but she was the sweetest thing he's ever seen. To think that anyone could hurt her so badly made him feel unwell on the inside.

"Natsu!" Lucy shrilled between her tears as she saw him and stood to hug him fiercely. He was here for her, after all. She wept into his chest as he held her. "Why would anyone do this to her? No one could deserve it less!"

"I don't know, Luce. I don't understand these scum either. How about you, though? Have you been here all night?" He felt her head nod into his chest.

"I want to be here for her when she wakes up. She… doesn't have anyone, you know. She has no one to look after her. She's too strong and stubborn to ask for help. I'll force her to live with me!"

"Jeez, that'd be nice. I can't even move at your place cuz I'm scared of getting it dirty!"

"My house is not that posh!" Lucy said with a thin smile.

"Luce, you have servants."

"Only a few! Jeez!" The pair stopped as Levy emitted a thin wail. Lucy rushed over to check on her, stroking her hair back from her forehead. "Levy-chan! Are you alright?"

"No, stop. Please Gajeel, stop," Levy whimpered before passing out again. Lucy wheeled around to ask Natsu if he'd heard that, but her heart froze. Natsu's expression… she'd never seen anything like it from him before. He was angry, furious, he mouth contorting into a snarl.

"Phantom…," he hissed. "They will pay for this!"

"Natsu, look at me!" Lucy snapped, getting into his face. He seemed to startle out of his murky thoughts as he looked into her eyes. "Don't do anything stupid! Look at her! The person or people who did this are sick in the head! You shouldn't try to fight them! This isn't some kind of cartoon; let the police do their jobs!"

Natsu did not look very convinced.

"Stay with me, please Natsu." Natsu's expression finally softened and he sat down with Lucy to wait.

**===][===**

Totomaru cried out in pain as Gajeel slammed him into the row of lockers, his crimson irises boring a hole into his very soul.

"It wasn't me, I swear!" He cried feebly, desperate not to the target of the anger in front of him. Gajeel slammed him into the lockers again.

"Tell me what you know!"

"I-I… okay, I've heard a rumour… just a rumour… that Jose had you followed." Gajeel's brow furrowed slightly and Totomaru pushed on. "Not just you, but anyone he doesn't trust. I hear that the crazy girl… uh, Juvia… has also been getting too close to a Fairy."

"Who was following me?" Gajeel growled.

"Please, Gajeel! I'm on your side! I have no idea! But it has to be someone Jose has sway over, or some sick animal who is happy to do things like that!" Gajeel relented, letting Totomaru fall to his feet. "But Jose had sway over the entire football team… any one of us could have been asked. Weren't you?"

Gajeel glowered at him briefly. "Word is, I'm going soft. Remember, Tots, I hate hitting girls, but if I find this bastard or anyone who stands in my way, I'll show you just how violent I can be."

Totomaru shivered, remembering the rumours surrounding Gajeel's expulsion from the world of boxing. If the rumours were true, Gajeel's violence only ended in death.

**===][===**

"Oh, hey, sweetcheeks," Bacchus said lewdly as he opened the door to find Cana standing there.

"Not now," she said harshly, pushing past him. "Get me a drink. A stiff one."

"Something up?" Bacchus asked as he took a pair of glasses and a bottle of sake from the shelf. Not stiff, but he knew better than to use alcohol as a salve. He joined Cana at his low table, pouring the drinks.

"Haven't you heard the news?" Cana asked bitterly. "Jeez, give me a cigarette."

"You don't smoke."

"I feel like it."

"No, you don't," Bacchus replied sternly, suddenly shoving the booze to one side. "Now tell me what's up."

"One of our girls was attacked last night," Cana said, tears forming her eyes, making Bacchus nervous. He'd never seen Cana so sombre. "She's such a gentle person, I can't believe someone would do that to her. And moreover, she's the most important member of our squad. Without her, we're ruined."

"Ah? She can't be more important than you."

Cana shook her head. "She probably considers herself insignificant. Hell, I know she feels insecure because she's the least 'womanly' of us, but she's the only one who can do what she does. Sure, we can put on a routine, but her high-flying acts were what made us special."

"I'm sorry," Bacchus said, surprising himself with how much he meant it. He didn't like seeing Cana upset.

"My dad's out there now, investigating. He's gone straight to Phantom High for a start."

"You don't think someone would beat up a girl for a football match, do you?" Bacchus asked. She looked up at him reproachfully and he had to agree. There was certainly a subsection of society that would, particularly in Phantom. Then he realised something. "This isn't a social call, is it?"

"You have information," Cana said slowly.

Bacchus looked perceptibly annoyed. He drummed his fingers on the table for a long moment, pursing his lips together. "You've heard of Gajeel. Totomaru. Sol. Aria. The rest are grunts, except one. A newer student. They say he might have come out of Juvenal detention."

"Who?"

"I've heard he went by a few names prior to his incarceration. Calls himself Shadow, because he likes to hunt there. Thinks of himself as a Rogue. But his name… his name is Raios Cheney."

Cheney!?" Cana exclaimed.

"That's right, princess. A family that rivals your beloved Lucy's in terms of wealth. That's how he got out early. A hell of a lot of money and clout to back him up. Arguably, he's a psych case, but he's undeniably dangerous. I've heard that he's a bit of a fanboy for our Gajeel."

Cana stood up instantly, going to leave.

"Don't do anything stupid," Bacchus said, not looking up. "In the real world, thugs like him carry knives or worse. Those like Gajeel have weapons called fists that they know how to use. This isn't some Glee-esque musical number where rival gangs fight by dancing and singing. Let the police – your father – handle this."

"You have something to learn about us Fairies," Cana said stonily. "We look after our own."

The door slammed shut and Bacchus sighed, looking over at the glasses. He pulled one over and stared into the liquor for a long moment. Uttering a second long sigh, he put it down and drew his mobile. He tapped in a number and waited impatiently as it rang.

"Hello?"

"Rocker. Gather the boys. We're gonna get wild."

**===][===**

"Juvia has seen him," Juvia whispered quietly. "A boy in a black hoodie. I've seen him so much recently that it can't be coincidence."

They were in Phantom High's library, a piss poor excuse for a literary archive. It had more cobwebs than books, but it was secluded. They found a quiet corner to talk.

"Anything more descriptive?" Gajeel asked.

Juvia shrugged. "Medium build, medium height. His face is always hidden."

"Damn it."

"Gajeel-kun… Gray-sama will not talk to Juvia. He is angry about what happened. He believes it to be Phantom's fault."

"What do I care about your problems?" Gajeel growled.

"Juvia is asking you to punch him once for her." Gajeel was taken aback by the strength in her eyes. He couldn't help the wild grin spreading across his face and he nodded. He left the library, a plan formulating. He'd have to hold on until he could spot this stalker himself. Passing near Jose's office, he doubled back in a hurry as he saw Gildartz leave. Damn it! The police were asking questions!

He would not trust his vengeance to due justice. He could not let the police find the criminal first.

**===][===**

"Damn it, is Natsu not here yet?" Macao snapped, looking over his assembled players.

"Um… I think he's gone to be with Lucy at the hospital," Romeo piped up. "They're looking after Levy."

"He called earlier," Gray confirmed. "Apparently, Levy identified Gajeel as the attacker."

A murmur passed around the crowd at the reminder, and Macao seemed contrite. He could see the hackles rising on some of his players. He knew what they wanted. They were angry, all of them. Except for Jet and Droy who just looked immensely depressed.

"Let's do our best," Macao said quietly. The low volume made everyone pay attention, turning their heads inwards. "Listen, I know how you all feel. Some of you want vengeance. Some of you are just angry. Some of you are sad. Some may be scared; there's no shame in that. But here at Fairy Tail, we are a family. Each of your well beings mean as much to me as my own son's. Only the classless would go out there and try to recoup this debt. We are better than that. We will show these scum how we operate on the field of battle; this goddamn football pitch!"

**===][===**

"Non non non non non non NOOOOOOOOON!" Sol cried as Gajeel rocketed into him and slammed him hard into the turf.

"Gihihi! Learn your place, thrower!" Gajeel crowed. It sucked that he had to waste his time with practise, but at least he could remind his team mates who was top dog around here. Of who they should be dangerously afraid of.

"Well played, Gajeel-san," a softly spoken boy said, trotting up. Gajeel glared at him. He knew his name… right? Raios, that was it. A little kiss up who seemed to look up to him for some reason. He looked like the quiet type to Gajeel, but he had some skills on the pitch.

"Well played? That was my spine!" Sol groaned as he got to his feet.

"If you can't keep up, you go down," Gajeel replied gleefully as Totomaru and Aria came over, forming the power of their team.

"Hey, did you see the news?" Aria chuckled. "Looks like one of those Fairies got what they deserved! How sad!" Gajeel tensed and Totomaru backed away slightly, but Aria went on. "Apparently it was that little runt. I bet she screamed like a bitch!"

"Watch your mouth," Gajeel hissed. "She was my… friend." The word felt wrong as it came out. He didn't have any friends, really. People that he scorned less than others, but no one he really liked. But the girl had dragged him in so quickly that he'd never even realised.

"She's a Fairy," Raios said sternly. "She'll lead you away from us."

Gajeel wasn't sure how to respond to that. Raios radiated some kind of creepy possessive vibe. Gajeel remembered the rumours of Raios' criminal record. He was spared further thought as there was a staccato impact of breaking glass. What the hell? It was after school hours, meaning the football team was some of the few people left on campus. They raced around the building, eager to confront the vandals.

As they reached the damaged windows, they looked around for the punks who had done it, bellowing for the cowards to fight them. Footsteps could be heard fleeing down the night streets. One of them shouted something, echoed by the others.

"Wild…"

"Four!"

**===][===**

"Please, Lu-chan. You don't have to do this." Levy looked a right mess, but the doctors had discharged her. Lucy had at least brought her a fresh change of clothes, since her uniform had been ruined in the attack. She sat in the back of a taxi, next to Lucy and Natsu. "I can just go back home."

"No, you can't," Lucy said, looking quite annoyed. "Right now, it's still a crime scene and you aren't setting a foot back in there until I have a locksmith fortify that place."

"I can't afford a locksmi-"

"You're not paying." Lucy waved away the protestations that followed. "You're staying at my place for at least a week. We've got lovely guest rooms you can stay in. You'll be doing me a favour, really. It's so lonely in that big house by myself."

"I'll stay there tonight," Natsu promised. "I won't let Gajeel come anywhere near you."

At the name, Levy underwent a violent convulsion of fear. She could remember it so clearly. She was expecting Gajeel for a study lesson, so when the door knocked, she hadn't thought twice about opening it. Then the hand had grabbed her throat. She remembered her back slamming into the wall, the punches, the knees, the kicks.

She had begged for him to stop. She didn't know why he was doing it. They were friends, weren't they? Even from under his hood, she could see the strands of black hair, the piercing eyes. He never uttered a word. It was emotionless, mechanical.

Levy startled, realising that she was crying and Lucy was hugging her tightly. She was stroking her hair and uttering that she was safe over and over again. Natsu was watching on with concern. The taxi pulled up alongside Lucy's house and the door opened as her butler opened the door.

"Greetings, miss. I am most saddened to hear of your friend's plight," Mr Leo said formally. "Please know that our mansion is very secure, Miss McGarden. You will be safe staying within these walls."

Lucy was struck by how fragile Levy was as she supported her up the long driveway. She certainly hadn't been happy that the crutch she had been given was a colourful child-size one. Every step was slow and laboured. Lucy was trying not to cry, seeing as how cruel this assailant must have been. And why? Over some high school rivalry? What was wrong with Phantom?

Lucy let Mr Leo lead the trio into the estate and through expensive corridors to the guest rooms. Levy watched with shock as he went through the en-suite facilities, television and details to contact the chef. It was like a five star hotel! It made her whole apartment look like crap, though it lacked books in her opinion.

Mr Leo retreated, forcefully tugging a clueless Natsu away so the girls could speak privately for a moment.

"Lu-chan, I can't… this is…" Levy garbled, looking at the floor.

"It's no problem, Levy-chan! You deserve a little pampering! In fact, why not stay here permanently?"

"Lu-chan! That's far too much!" The smaller girl squealed.

"You think about it. Please get some rest, Levy-chan. I'll see you in the morning." Before Lucy could leave, however, a small hand grasped hers, arresting her movement. She was crying again, her small body shaking with pent up emotion. "Levy-chan?"

"I-I'm sorry that I can't perform at the game anymore. Because of me, you'll have to change the routine." Levy's face began to screw up. "I… I thought that he was a good man, Lu-chan! I trusted him!"

Lucy grabbed Levy and hugged her tightly. "Don't you dare think such stupid things. This wasn't your fault, and we'll compensate. Your trusting nature is one of your best assets. Just remember how this shows how important you are to us. We needed you; you are important and we all care about you. Now, please get some rest. You need to regain your strength. I'll be close by; just knock on my door if you need anything. Anything, you hear me?"

**===][===**

"OI!" Cana shouted at the door she was pounding on to no avail. "I thought we had a date tonight! Men!"

Several streets over in the central park, Bacchus rested on a bench, staring up at the full moon. A good sign, the full moon. It was when hounds got wild, after all. He yawned at the sound of heavy boots approaching, clearly trying to be antagonistic.

"You got some balls, pulling a stunt like that," Gajeel rumbled, plonking down on the bench next to him. "If my team had caught you, you'd be sucking more than a few bruises."

"Oh? The way I remember it, you never got close to us," the hound replied lightly.

"But you let me chase you down. Why?"

"The girl. It wasn't you, was it?" Gajeel raised a brow, not making any movement bigger than that. "I told you; I don't trust anyone who hasn't shared a drink with me. We did, and I don't think you're that kind of person. You're wild, like me."

"No. It wasn't me, but what fucking business is it of yours?" Gajeel growled. Bacchus gave a reproachful glare.

"Maybe you're looking at this like purely your problem, but there was a girl involved too, y'know. She's got a lot of friends who want your head right about now. The rumour on the street is that she named you when she woke up. It doesn't seem to have reached the police yet, which suggests that there are people willing to take justice into their own hands. Possibly on a football pitch in the near future. Tomorrow, ain't it?"

"I can handle myself."

"You are a man of few words, I like that. But there's this expression – I forget who said it – a knife in the back is worth a hundred swords at dawn." Seeing the blank incomprehension on his conversation partner's face, Bacchus explained. "It means, the problem ain't the Fairies pounding you into the turf; it's the guys on your team you can't trust."

"I don't trust any of my team."

"Fuck, man! There's laconic and then there's just plain awkward. There's a difference when one of them might just be a psychopath!"

"Raios? He wouldn't cross me. He treats me with hero worship. It's that bastard Aria that I'm worried about. He's big like a brick shithouse and he's cruel. I can see him enjoying torturing…" His sentence trailed off and he clenched a fist in anger. Just imagining it made his blood boil.

"I'm with you on that," Bacchus said, leaning forward on his haunches. "I've had more than a few run-ins with the law, but that's some messed up shit. If you're wondering why I'm helping you, then I'm not. Cana wants justice for that girl and I'm gonna get it for her. Which means finding the right suspect."

Gajeel glowered at him for a moment, clearly deciding whether to impart information or not. "I've been tailed. If you can watch my back a bit, we might increase our chances of catching him." A broad grin split his face. "Then we show him the difference between fighting an unarmed girl and a champion boxer and a black belt."

Bacchus grinned. "Wild."

…

"Oh, fuck! I was supposed to be seeing Cana! Not wild! Wait for me, baby!" Bacchus leapt from the bench and sprinted into the night, leaving Gajeel chuckling with sudden mirth.

"Looks like you're in the doghouse! Gihihi!"

**===][===**

"The game's today," Natsu said, staring out of the window. He looked around his room with some dissatisfaction. Lucy's guest rooms might be nice, but he'd rather be sharing a bed. Unfortunately, her dad was home and that wasn't gonna happen.

He returned to watching the gardens outside as Lucy entered the room to wish him a good morning.

"How are you feeling, Natsu?" She asked, worried about him.

"Me? I'm all fired up."

**===][===**

"Welcome all to Fairy High's football grounds for the first match of this season! I'm your commentator for the evening, Jason! Cooooooooooool! The rivalries between these teams knows no bounds! Think of what we can expect to see! The bleachers are full and the cheerleaders are warming up the crowd! And heeeeeeeeeeeeeere come the players!"

The two teams lined up along the centre line and the crowd went silent. The tension was palpable. The cheerleaders tried to making a rousing display, but the main thing that could be heard was Juvia cheering for the wrong team.

"What'cha looking at, dumbass?" Gajeel snarled at Natsu, standing opposite him in the very centre.

"You're gonna pay for what you did to Levy," he promised.

"How sad! To think that this team believes that they can scare us!" Aria laughed. Laxus stepped up, equal in height.

"Laugh it up, big guy. We'll show you who the strongest is!"

"Non non non! I wonder if any of your other cheerleaders might suffer any accidents?" Sol gloated.

"What did you say, Frenchie!?" Elfman seethed. "You aren't going anywhere near my sisters!"

"We're gonna rock and roll all over your asses!" Totomaru declared loudly, causing Romeo to glare at him, but not actually respond. Words were pointless – only action mattered now. Raios seemed to be enjoying himself, catching the angry looks of Jet and Droy towards Gajeel.

A short man walked down the middle. "Alright, I am your referee and my name is Mato. I look forward to a nice clean game, alright? You two –shake hands!"

Gajeel and Natsu reached out, hands grabbing each other and squeezing. Natsu winced at the power on display here. Gajeel was clearly a physically powerful man, but football was a game of teamwork, not raw power.

"I hope you're ready for this, Fairy," Gajeel said, grin spreading across his face. He was feeling better. None of this emotional girly crap. None of this subterfuge. Now he could just be his old aggressive self.

"Bring it on, Metalface. We're going to crush you."


	5. To Be A Team

**Fairy High**

**Chapter 5**

**To Be A Team**

"And the coin flip goes to Fairy High! Cooooooool! It looks like they're gonna take the first play! I wonder what strategy they have in mind? Let's watch!"

"Okay, let's cheer them on!" Lucy cried. During the game, the role of the cheerleaders was fairly mundane. Basic chants and dances, mainly to help enthuse the crowd. They'd do their routine at the half time mark.

As the line of scrimmage formed, a sea of black uniforms on red; Gajeel and Natsu glared hate at one another. The whistle blew and suddenly the world around them became a tremendous impact as players slammed into one another. Laxus and Elfman in particular were mighty walls that no one was going to get through, but Aria was a match on their side.

Gajeel tried to follow the flow of the ball. It was being passed backwards into the hands of one of their throwers, though he didn't know the name of Droy. To his amazement, there was a sudden burst of red as Laxus made enough of a hole for Jet to slip through. Gajeel disengaged instantly to bear him down, but he couldn't catch him! He was startled; how could he lose in speed? Like a falcon, the ball descended from the dark skies and perfectly into Jet's hands. He evaded players with ease and within a minute, Fairy High had a touchdown.

As Jet swaggered back towards the centre line, he passed Gajeel, snarling with pent-up anger.

"That was for Levy," Jet hissed quietly. "The first of many. You'll lose, Phantom."

"Get away from me before I snap your scrawny neck," Gajeel replied murderously, eyes like thunder. He did not like losing at all. To suffer a touchdown this fast… it boggled the mind. He shouted obscenities to his team mates, threatening them to perform better.

As the snap occurred, Gajeel took the ball instantly, pushing aside Sol as he was preparing for a throwing play. Using his considerable strength, Gajeel took to just running the distance himself. He pushed Elfman out of the way, staggering the immense man with his boxer's physique. But he didn't get particularly far before Natsu slammed into him from behind and bore him to the turf.

As the second line of scrimmage began to form, Phantom players hissed at Gajeel.

"Oi, you have to call your plays!" Totomaru cried. "We can't support you if we don't know what you're doing!"

"Just keep up with me," Gajeel growled. "I advanced the fucking ball didn't I?"

Aria barked a laugh. "We will lose if we are not more coordinated! How sad!"

"It seems that beating up that runt only riled them up," Raios noted dispassionately. He squealed pathetically as Gajeel's hand shot out and grabbed the front of his jersey, pulling him face to face.

"Don't you dare speak of her like that again," he snarled, bringing his full rage at point blank range.

"W-who's side are you on!?" Sol cried. The question made Gajeel pause. What was he doing here? Looking for this assailant or winning the game? He released Raios.

"I'm on my side," he said, clarifying nothing. "But first, let's crush these Fairies."

**===][===**

Loke, generally known as Mr Leo in his duties to the Heartphilia estate knocked softly on the bedroom door. He waited patiently, expecting a call to enter, but instead Levy cracked the door open, peering fearfully around to see who it was. It made his heart sink. Her attacker had left a legacy of fear, even in this safe place.

"If you wish to know, you can always use the peephole," he said gently as she opened the door.

"I can't reach it," she replied bashfully, blushing slightly. Loke could hear the TV on as he entered the room, setting the tray with her dinner down on a side table. She hobbled back to the bed and drew the blankets around herself, clearly enjoying the fluffy sheets. Loke took the chance to glance at the TV. It was covering the Fairy/Phantom game and he watched with satisfaction as a tall Fairy slammed a scrawny Phantom player into the grass.

"Yay, Elfman!" Levy clapped. "Please, do you want to watch with me? It's lonely by myself!"

"Miss is most kind," Loke replied. Suddenly the camera flashed to the cheerleaders and he lost composure. "Lady Lucy! So cute in her uniform!"

"I wish I could be there," Levy said sombrely, her hands placed over her heart. "I know that I'm not as beautiful as the other girls, but I want to help."

"I think the little miss does herself a disservice. But once you have rested up, you will be able to take part in the next game. I believe you will be playing Cerberus High next?"

"Yes, I understand that Cana is dating a boy from there, but we've not heard too much about him; she tends to keep him secret. I hear that he's a bit of a bad influence. Then again, maybe it's Cana who's the bad influence!" Levy giggled. She froze as the camera panned across Gajeel momentarily, his blazing eyes burning into her mind. She let out a squeal of fear and curled over her knees.

"Miss McGarden!" Loke cried warily.

"No!" Levy stated, forcing herself back up. "I will not give in to this fear. It's what he would have wanted. I am stronger than that. He… he can't be that scary."

**===][===**

Natsu cried out in pain as Gajeel trod on his foot and drove his shoulder upwards into the Fairy's jaw. Natsu's head snapped back, but his foot was pinned, hurting his leg. He fell to the grass, screaming in pain. Referee Mato ran up, blowing his whistle.

"Penalty to Gajeel! I've got my eye on you; I don't wanna see any more foul play!"

"Sorry! I guess I'm just clumsy today!" Gajeel chuckled, watching Natsu rise slowly to his feet. Clearly, he hadn't hit him hard enough if he was still able to use that leg. Still, this meant that the play passed to the Fairies, and Gajeel wasn't done yet. He passed Totomaru and hissed at him quietly.

"Let the runner through. I want a go at him."

As the Fairies started their next drive, Gajeel pulled back from the line of scrimmage, looking for the speedy Fairy who'd outplayed him before. He was already halfway towards his own endzone when Jet broke free from the scuffle to make another blinding run.

He was ready this time. As Jet got ready for the catch, he never saw Gajeel strike him, smashing him so hard that his head swam despite his protective headgear. There was a groan from the crowd to watch their star runner go down, but the mood changed in an instant as there was a horrific crunch and scream.

Gajeel had stamped on Jet's leg.

"Oops! I'm so clumsy today!" Gajeel exclaimed, holding his hands up. "Did that hurt?"

Jet was screaming shrilly as he clutched at his broken thigh. Otherwise, silence had descended on the stadium at the horrible scene. After a moment, medics rushed onto the field as the players all rushed up, trying to help, Mato blowing repeatedly on his whistle.

"Not cool! It looks like there has been some kind of accident on the pitch!" Jason shouted over the loudspeakers.

"Accident!?" Droy cried, rounding on Mato. "That was on purpose! Book him!"

"Now, now," Mato said. "It looked like an accident to me. These things happen. Just cool your head; the important thing now is your friend's well being. In fact, there's only a few minutes left in this half. I can see that you're all riled up, so we'll call time there, come back fresh after the half time show."

"You can't be serious!" Natsu shouted. He scowled as he heard Gajeel chuckling nearby, looking far too cocky, and the thought hit him between the eyes like a hammer. "The ref's been bought…"

"You think so?" Gray asked, trotting up beside him.

"That asshole just broke Jet's leg! That's at least a caution or something! Gah, is he okay?"

"Jeez man, it looks like he's got a break alright. This could fuck up his entire career. We can't let them just get away with this! Are we just supposed to play a game of football with these maniacs!? We should-"

"You should do nothing," Macao said severely, approaching them after checking on Jet who was now being carted off of the pitch. "This is a game, not a brawl. Don't reduce it to that level. With Jet gone, we'll retire Droy and bring on Fried and Bixlow. For now, take a rest and watch the girls."

**===][===**

Levy gawked at the TV, unable to believe what had just happened. Poor Jet! They were the best of friends; seeing him hurt made her feel so bad.

"What a brute," Mr Leo said coldly, his fists clenching. "He'll hurt anyone in his way."

"No," Levy said quietly, surprising both of them with the word. "No. It's different somehow. His attitude was completely different then. His eyes… were different. Cold, distant, mechanical. This Gajeel enjoyed what he just did."

"This Gajeel?" Loke asked, picking up on her unusual choice of words.

Levy frowned, thinking hard, trying to remember the memories she was previously trying to suppress. She could remember Gajeel so clearly in the aftermath, but he had been saying gentle things, trying to check on her. Think, Levy! The door had been knocked upon, and she had opened it. The man there had his hood up, concealing his features, and had struck her so quickly that she had lost her senses instantly. Had it been someone else?

His eyes. She had remembered the eyes. But they were cold, emotionless. Gajeel's would have blazed with anger, she was sure of that. But if it wasn't him, then who was it?

Then the feeling hit her. It wasn't him! Gajeel was innocent! He had come to check on her, to make sure that she was safe. Maybe he'd even driven off her assailant. But… he had just broken the leg of one of her dearest friends. He was dangerous… like a wild animal.

Understanding flared in her eyes and she scrambled off of the bed.

"Hey, what are you doing?" Loke stammered.

"I have to get there and talk to Gajeel!"

"W-what? He just attacked-"

"I know! He's lost grasp of what matters. He's been accused of attacking me when he's innocent. He's been driven into a corner and is baring his fangs. The poor man must be hurting so much on the inside that he's reverting to type. I have to help him before he sinks too far!"

Loke was struck by the girl's inner strength to be saying half of the stuff she'd just said. He took one wistful glance at the TV, hoped that Mr Taurus was recording Lucy's performance and dashed after Levy, fishing the car keys out of his pocket.

**===][===**

The battle for the audience during the halftime break may not require physical contact, but it was no less a deadly battle. The Phantom High girls were voluptuous vixens one and all, using their sex appeal to charm the crowd in classless displays.

"I told Juvia that they had no idea how to put on a show," Cana said. "It's not about sex appeal."

"Though I find that it helps," Evergreen responded haughtily.

"Where is Juvia?" Lucy asked. She couldn't see the blunette amongst the rival cheerleaders. Had she chosen not to come out? Whatever, they had bigger things to worry about at the moment. They had wanted to put on a show, and in lieu of finding another person small enough to hurl around, they had gone the other way – find other throwers bigger and stronger!

"I-I can't believe that I'm doing this as a Man."

"Your sister is scary," Laxus growled. The two large men stood sheepishly in male cheerleading uniforms, which were still pink, much to their dismay. Neither was happy to be forced into this, but between Mira and Evergreen, they had agreed.

"You look good in that," Lisanna said brightly, which did not assuage Elfman at all. To which, Lisanna went on; "It's manly to be a cheerleader!"

"Manly? Manly. Manly!" Elfman bellowed, making Laxus cringe. Was he the only sane one in this damn school? He looked back over at the sidelines where Mira was waving at him. God damn it.

"Let's do it, girls!" Lucy cried. They cheered in return and began their routine. They danced in unison to their cheers, waving their pom-poms like an undulating wave of glittering crimson. Laxus and Elfman couldn't join in with that – not that anyone would want them to – but got ready for the lift.

"Now, Elf-niichan!" Lisanna cried as she ran over to him.

"MAN!" Elfman roared, hurling his sister into the air as Laxus did the same for Evergreen. The two girls span head over heels and landed in the other man's arms.

"Careful where you put your hands," Evergreen purred, making Elfman blush as he hurriedly set her down.

"Your sister would have been angry if I missed," Laxus said in response to Lisanna's gratitude. And yet, he wasn't scared of her brother right next to him. Erza and Cana ran up, spreading out a large banner emblazoned with the Fairy High logo. Between them and the two men they each took a corner, forming a large trampoline between them. One by one, the other girls leapt on in turn, performing an aerial manoeuvre each more elaborate than the last.

The crowd cheered wildly for the Fairy girls, easily outdoing the Phantom's sultry routine. Perhaps more than anything else, they never stopped smiling brightly, their wonderful variety of personalities dragging people in.

**===][===**

"Tch, the girls kicked our asses," Gajeel growled, stepping away from the field trying not to admit to himself that he was trying to find Juvia. Despite himself, he was worried about her. He found her crying behind the stands. "You alright?"

"Juvia refused to take part. She was upset about everything that had happened. Jose… has expelled me."

"He can't do that," Gajeel stated.

"I can do anything I want, Gajeel-chan." Gajeel span on his heel to see the principal of his school step out behind him. "You must remember that. I paid off the referee. I ordered Fairy High vandalised. I expelled the little brat here. And I ordered the assault on your little friend."

"You bastard," Gajeel snarled.

"Oh? I don't remember ordering you to shatter someone's bones. You did that yourself. Perhaps we are not so different, you and I. We both want to win."

"No! Gajeel-kun isn't perfect, but he is nothing like you!" Juvia stated. Gajeel was bewildered, not expecting her to leap to his defence. Why would she? It was true that he was a violent thug. He'd just proven that on the pitch.

"I agree with Juvia," said a new voice. Gajeel looked over and his eyes widened as Levy hobbled over towards the trio. She was supporting her weight on a walking stick in one hand and the other slipped through the arm of some posh looking guy in a suit.

"Shrimp! Are you alright?"

"I'm fine, Gajeel," she replied boldly. "I'm sorry that I've hurt you so much." Gajeel blinked, staggered by her choice of words. She'd hurt him? "I made a mistake. I'm sorry, but I was confused and scared. I realise now that you weren't the one to hurt me. It's amazing how the mind plays tricks."

During her speech, she had left Loke and crossed over to him, raising a hand to his cheek.

"I know that you're a troubled person, but violence isn't the answer. It doesn't solve anything. Please, once this damn game is over, come to see me again. I so prefer the Gajeel who reads to the one who hurts people."

Gajeel said nothing, his head hung. At last, he spoke.

"I cried when he died."

Levy smiled, recognising his meaning. "You read on without me." Gajeel nodded. "That's okay; I cried too! I'm so glad that my violent Gajeel found the time to try and better himself."

"Excuse me!" Jose sniped witheringly. "This is all very touching, but in a few minutes the next half will start. If you're not on that pitch and trying to win the game, I will expel you too. I will doctor your records. Everyone will know what happened in that ring."

"I didn't kill anyone!" Gajeel shouted. "That was a lie!"

"And who is going to believe you?" Jose replied with a triumphant smirk. "You are mine, Gajeel Redfox. You will obey me."

"That's fine!" Levy chirped, utterly confusing everyone present. She patted Gajeel's arm and smiled up at him. "You get back out there and show everyone what you're made of!"

**===][===**

"The players are starting to come out for the second half! You can see that Fairy High has made a few substitutions, bringing on their star thrower and a great linesman. We can only hope to see a good clean game from now on. Coooool!"

Gajeel had never felt so utterly lost as he felt then, in the middle of his team. He no longer understood what it was that he was doing. Was he suffering under blackmail? Sorting out his violent needs? Hunting for the man who attacked Levy? Did he enjoy the sport? Want redemption? He was lost.

He scanned the faces of the Fairy High team. None of them looked scared. They'd hurt their friends, damaged their school, and it had only made them more determined to fight back. They weren't bending under pressure; they were responding with unyielding willpower and determination.

Gajeel looked around for some sort of inspiration. There was Totomaru, the man he came closest to trusting on his team. Raios, who looked up to him as an idol, even if he was a bit weak in the head. Aria, a sadistic bastard who he didn't care about at all.

He looked beyond his team, at Juvia. Someone who bore some sympathies with his plight. His eyes went up to the crowd. There sat Jose, grinning like some kind of Bond villain. He caught sight of Bacchus, cheeks flushed as he snuck another swig from his canteen. Looking down, he saw Droy on the reserve bench, glaring hate at him. Moving along, he saw the cheerleaders hugging Levy as she rejoined them. They were all so happy to see her. He saw her eyes glance his way.

Suddenly, Gajeel thrust a fist into the air, startling his comrades and silencing the crowd.

"Is Gajeel signalling a victory? Coool, he must be confident!"

"We are Phantom High! We are a den of thieves, thugs, violent bastards, Frenchmen and assholes! And we are going to crush these Fairies right here and now! Which of you fucking fuckers is with me?"

"That's quite a way with words," Totomaru replied with a cheeky grin.

"Non, non, non, I take offense to that Frenchman comment!" Sol cried.

"How sad! Are we resorting to playing fair and square?" Aria laughed.

"I'll follow you anywhere, Gajeel," Raios said quietly.

"Go guys!" Juvia cried, reprising her cheering role. "Just don't hurt Gray-sama!"

"Right! Sol, drop to the back to receive the ball. Totomaru, Raios! Wait for Aria and I to open a hole and then sweep through both sides…"

**===][===**

Gray slammed into a Phantom lineman, bearing him to the crowd as a cheerleader cheered for the wrong side. Raios tried to step past him, but he was already on it as he moved to block him off.

Romeo expertly sidestepped Totomaru, seeking to catch him off guard, but with a lithe twist, the young man broke away and headed downfield.

A staggering long bomb from Bixlow saw a touchdown as Fried made the catch all the way in the end zone.

Aria and Laxus clashed, the large men straining against one another as they sought to bring the other down. Neither could quite seem to best the other.

Sol cried out as he caught the ball and was promptly squished, Elfman practically tripping and falling on top of him.

Again and again, Gajeel and Natsu met one another. Sometimes Gajeel won, sometimes Natsu. Neither would back down for an instant.

**===][===**

"Cooool! Cooool! The clock is ticking and the score is tied! This has been one of the most intense games I have ever commentated for! Every one of the players is breathing hard, on their last legs! This final play could decide everything! It's Natsu! Natsu is making a break for it, but Gajeel is hot on his heels! Who will win?"

"AAAAAAAARGGGGHHHH! I'm gonna make it!" Natsu screamed as his muscles burned. He could hear the rhythmic pounding of Gajeel's heavy steps just behind him. He couldn't let up, couldn't turn and check. There was no time. To his utter dismay he felt the tug on the back of his jersey and the two players crashed into the floor.

Just over the line for a touchdown.

"COOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOL! The Fairies win! The Fairies win!"

As he stood back up, Gajeel caught a glimpse of Jose throwing an apoplectic fit in the crowd. "Gihi, I think that makes losing worth it!"

"I think I understand you a bit better now," Natsu gasped, trying to regain his breath. "You're a harsh bastard alright. But in your own way, you're just trying to come out on top. I still can't forgive you for what you did."

"I wasn't the one who attacked your friend," Gajeel grated. "Not that I care what you think of me, but you're looking in the wrong place. Only two people truly know. One of those is the thug who did it. The other is Jose. Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm gonna pay my principal a visit. It's not like he's going to write a worse report for me. There'll be repercussions for this."

**Look, I'm English. I know nothing about American Football. DON'T JUDGE ME! XD**


	6. A Shot to the Heart

**Fairy High**

**Chapter 6**

**A Shot to the Heart**

"You guys were amazing!" Levy sang from the crush of bodies hugging around her. "And I can't breathe anymore, so if you wanna step back, that'd be good!"

The cheerleading squad stepped back to give Levy just enough time to enjoy the respite before Droy barrelled into her and she had to repeat herself.

"I was so worried!" Droy wept, tears flowing down his face. "Seeing what that beast did to Jet makes it all the worse!"

"No!" Levy cried, trying to pry him off. "It wasn't Gajeel who did this!"

"What did you say?" Lucy asked, her face contorting into an expression of confusion as she held Loke at arm's length. "You said that he was the one who attacked you before!"

"I was scared and shocked, Lu-chan! The more and more I remember the attack, the more sure I am that it wasn't him. The other man had much colder eyes, but I'm not sure who it was."

"You're wrong," Droy stated firmly. "He attacked Jet today, to prove that he had done it. You're just confusing yourself."

"I am not!" Levy retorted, puffing out her cheeks in an adorable gesture of annoyance. "I know Gajeel; he is my friend and I trust him."

The statement was met by silence from the cheerleaders. How could Levy call that brute a friend? They couldn't be any more different. Cana looked around, her expression souring. "If he's so innocent, where has he gone?"

**===][===**

Gajeel had seen Jose leave the stadium in a hurry. He knew where the principal would be heading and went straight there, tearing off his bulky armour to just his undershirt. His heavy footsteps pounded on the pavements as he headed for his school.

It was late at night now and Phantom High was deserted. So the unlocked front gate confirmed his suspicions. He drew a line through the campus to the main building that housed Jose's office and entered through the now unlocked door. He went up the stairs to the second floor, following the light pouring out of the open office door.

"Damn it!" Jose cried, rifling through a mound of paperwork on his desk. "How is this possible!? I have to get out of here!"

"That's what happens when you owe a lot of money," Gajeel stated, entering the office.

"You!" Jose barked. "How dare you show your face around here, you little piece of shit!? You've ruined everything with your failure. Have you any idea how much money was riding on that game?"

"Dunno," Gajeel shrugged. "But the sort of circles scum like you go in probably aren't full of nice people. I bet your friends will want their money back. And won't mind breaking a few legs as collateral."

"You think this is funny?" Jose hissed. "I can end you, just like that. You'll never have any form of education. You'll spend your worthless existence as a burger flipper before you finally work up the courage to end your pitiful life."

"No. I'm going further," Gajeel stated. "You, on the other hand, can't doctor any records if I break every bone in your fingers."

The sound of the gun firing made the world seem to cease. Jose had drawn it so swiftly from his desk drawer that Gajeel hadn't the time to react. He looked down dumbly at the red mark in his chest before his legs gave out and the floor rose to greet him harshly. His heart pounded in his ears, the universe shrinking around him as his consciousness began to fail. Jose stood over him smugly.

"What a shame, Gajeel-chan! No-one knows that we are here! I can flee this wretched hellhole of a country and start up a life somewhere much nicer. You, you will bleed to death here."

"N-no," Gajeel gasped. Was this it? It was true; no one knew he was here. There was no help coming. No. No! He had to do something! His arm reached out, trying to support his weight, but instantly collapsed. His strength was gone. There was no chance. He was dead. His ears were ringing, a constant wail… like the sirens on a police car.

"What!?" Jose snapped, running to the window as blue and red lights strobed through the windows. He ran to the door, and the second he got there an elbow slammed into his face, breaking his nose. His assailant pushed through the doorway, expertly disarming with a violent wrench. Jose had enough time to snarl angrily before repeated blows took him to the side of the head, sending him to the floor.

"Gihi… you glorious… son of a bitch," Gajeel muttered before he passed out.

"Just hang on," Bacchus said, kneeling over him. "The paramedics are on their way."

**===][===**

Loke grumbled as he pulled up outside the school. He'd had a busy day of being a chauffeur and it didn't look like it was over yet. He had three girls in the back. Along with Lucy and Levy, he'd picked up a brunette called Cana. Apparently her father had called and needed her to come over, something about Bacchus and Gajeel. Lucy had offered his services and here they were.

Phantom high looked like a crime scene all right. There were police cars everywhere, along with one ambulance. Loke watched as Levy ambled over there with Lucy's support. Cana ran off to confront a tall policeman.

"Dad!" Cana shouted. "What's going on? What's happened to Bacchus?"

"He's fine," Gildartz reassured her. "But right now, he's sitting in the back of my squad car. This is a hell of a tangled mess that he's gotten wrapped up in." He grinned lopsidedly. "Not how I expected to meet your boyfriend, I'll tell you that."

"What's going on?" Cana reiterated, trying to ignore the last comment.

"Your boyfriend gave us a call a few minutes ago. Said that there was going to be some kind of violence going down here and also ordered an ambulance. His quick thinking might have just saved that boy's life."

"That's Gajeel. He was the one who attacked Levy… though she's changed her story since."

"It would be odd for her to rush to her attacker's side," Gildartz agreed, watching the other two girls reach the ambulance. "I'm not in a position to question either of them at the moment though. And now we've also got Jose Porlia implicated… this is going to be a nightmare to get to the bottom of. We'll have to question your boyfriend too."

"But Bacchus hasn't done anything wrong!"

"We found him in the office with a smoking gun, a badly beaten Jose, a shot Gajeel and more alcohol than any seventeen year old should be carrying on them. He's certainly got a lot of explaining to do. But the fact that he called us should stand well in his favour." Gildartz placed his hands on her shoulders. "Go home and rest, Cana. I promise you that we'll get to the bottom of all of this."

**===][===**

"Gajeel!" Levy cried, running up to the ambulance. She couldn't see him properly from the ground, elevated on the gurney in the back of the vehicle.

"You family? We gotta go!" The paramedic working over him said quickly. Levy was about to explain when Lucy shoved her forward onto the ambulance saying that she was his little sister and whispering that Levy would thank her later. As Levy stood up on the decking, she gasped to see Gajeel so pale, his chest bared and wound clearly visible.

The driver slammed the door shut and she had to fight to maintain her footing as the ambulance began to speed towards the hospital. Not easy with her injured legs.

"Gajeel," she whispered so quietly that no one heard her.

"He's unconscious," the paramedic surmised. "We've done everything we can to stabilise him, but we have to get him to the hospital now."

Levy felt so helpless to watch him lay there, his chest rising and falling shallowly. She'd never thought that she could see the strong man look so vulnerable, so weak. Why had he run off after Jose by himself? Why couldn't he just ask for some help?

After what felt like eternity, they arrived at the hospital, piling out of the vehicle to be greeted by a gaggle of nurses and doctors. Levy tried to keep up with them, but her legs were aching and she'd left her walking stick behind. A nurse kindly led her away to a waiting room. She stayed there for a few minutes before someone else was wheeled by on a gurney and she went after him.

"Jet!" She cried, grabbing his attention. He smiled, looking a little out of it on pain killers. She tried to hobble along next to him. "How are you?"

"Ah, doc says I'll be fine. A hairline fracture. I'll get a cast, a couple of weeks R and R and I'll back good as new! Hey… have I told you how pretty you are?"

"Not now, Jet. You're a little lightheaded," Levy replied kindly.

"No, I mean it," Jet said, looking a bit confused, as if it was obvious. Levy slowed, allowing the porter pushing him to get away from her rather than continue the conversation. This was getting a bit confusing for her. She went back to the waiting room, trying not to think about Gajeel.

She wasn't very good at it.

**===][===**

"Not wild at all," Bacchus grumbled. He was sitting in a holding cell at the precinct, cross-legged on the simple bed, which was pretty much a raised platform with no padding. When he'd seen Gajeel and Jose leave the stadium, he hadn't hesitated at all. He knew the stubborn Gajeel would get in over his head and had instantly called the police. He'd kind of forgotten the detail of Cana's father.

The cell door banged open and Cana marched in, now dressed in more appropriate clothing. Bacchus could imagine the catcalls her uniform would elicit here.

"Oi! Are you going to tell me what's going on here?" Cana demanded. "I don't know anything!"

"I was trying to do a good thing," Bacchus groused. "It doesn't feel like it though. I'm being treated like a criminal."

"You idiot!" Cana snapped. "You're a minor found in possession of alcohol and charged with violent assault! You are a criminal!"

"I was trying to stop him from getting away and shooting me in the process!" Bacchus shouted, swaying to his feet. He was clearly wound up. "Gajeel was dying! I did what I could to help him! Why is no one focussing on that? I thought your school didn't turn its back on its friends!"

"Gajeel is no friend of ours! He is a violent thug who hurt Levy and broke Jet's leg!"

"No he didn't!" Bacchus snarled. "Well, yes he broke that guy's leg, but if you just took a minute to look beyond that exterior, you'd see that he's better than that!"

Cana threw her hands up in disgust. "I thought I understood you. Apparently, I was wrong."

"What are you saying?" Bacchus asked, his eyes flaring with sudden concern.

"I'm saying that we're done. I'm out of here." As Cana turned to leave, Bacchus gestured helplessly for her to stay, but to no avail. The door slammed shut, leaving him alone in his temporary prison. He slouched back down onto the bench.

"Lord, I want a drink right about now."

**===][===**

His eyes opened slowly, looking up at dreary tiles coming slowly into focus as his eyes adjusted. Gajeel groaned, feeling pain in his head like a jackhammer. How long had he been unconscious? Slowly, the memories flooded back to him and he remembered the gun firing. He started, staring down at himself. He very briefly noticed the gauze wrapping his wound, but instantly his attention swung to the right where Levy's head lay against his bed, snoring like a little kitten. The cuteness was so anathema to his current situation that he almost burst out laughing. The roaring pain in his chest convinced him that this was a bad idea.

Why was she here? Shouldn't she be back at the game, celebrating with her friends? He frowned, confused. Maybe a day had passed. Maybe two. He looked around, but there wasn't a clock on the wall, let alone a calendar. In fact, the only thing in the ward to attract his attention was the girl sleeping. He scowled, not liking his train of thoughts. Just because she was the cutest thing since baby pandas didn't mean that she was attractive! Right? Damn her! He wasn't supposed to be falling for a girl! This wasn't part of his plan! Which mostly involved fighting, sleeping and eating with a bit of time for pooping. Not really much of a plan at all.

But still… he was amazed by how quickly this girl had swept into his life and taken over everything. Hadn't she been the focus of his every waking moment in the last few weeks in some way or the other? He made a noise of annoyance and she awoke, making him panic ashamedly.

"Gajeel!" She cried, a happy smile spreading over her face even as her eyes began to tear up. "You're awake! Oh, I had been so worried! I'm so glad to see-"

"Shrimp. Calm the fuck down. What's going on? Where am I, and don't say fucking hospital!"

"You were shot. You were very lucky that the bullet lodged in one of your ribs. It means you have a broken bone, but managed not to puncture your lungs. Do you remember what happened at all?"

"Yeah, I remember. God damn Jose. I didn't think he'd be packing. I was stupid. God damn it! I didn't find out a fucking thing! I didn't find out who attacked you!"

"It doesn't matter," Levy said airily, waving a hand. "Jose was the one who gave the order."

Gajeel didn't agree, and would still happily break the bones of the person once he found him. Still, he had more pressing issues at the moment. "When is it?"

"You've been out for almost a day now. I've been sleeping, but it's about noon, I think." As if to underline her point, Levy's tummy growled. God damn it! Even her bowel movements sounded fucking adorable! He told her to go eat, annoyed. To his amazement, delicate fingers clamped around his hand. "No, I'd rather stay here with you."

"What did you say!?" Gajeel asked in an unusually high pitched voice, his face flushing red. His heart felt like it'd taken a harder shot than last night!

"What did you say!?" The curtain pulled back to reveal Jet lying in the next bed in the ward. His leg was up in a cast, suspended in the air.

"He he he, is that the time!? I guess I should get lunch after all!" Levy cried, fleeing for all her might, leaving the two boys to glare at each other.

**===][===**

In a school computer room in Cerberus High, a young woman typed away on a keyboard, preparing her proposal. She was a formal kind of person and wanted it in the strongest legalese possible. She would deliver it to Fairy High soon. She didn't look up as another girl entered the room.

"Kagura-chan!" Milliana greeted warmly. "Don't you want to go outside? It's such a beautiful day!"

"Not now, Milliana," Kagura replied stiffly. "I want to finish this first. I want the Fairies to be ready. I don't want them to have any excuses. Besides, if Bacchus gets convicted, our team will have lost its star player. The other boys are just like puppies compared to Fairy High."

"You really think that they'll agree to this proposal?" Milliana asked, cocking her head inquisitively.

Kagura smiled coldly. "If I know Scarlett, there's no way she'd back down from a challenge like this!"

**Apologies for any similarities with the fate Gray suffered recently. It was purely coincidental.**


	7. Painful Memories

**Fairy High**

**Chapter 7**

**Painful Memories**

"How on earth did you find my address?" Gajeel snarled from his bed. Levy wasn't exactly scared. It was a week after the incident and Gajeel wasn't up to scaring anything bigger than a fruit fly. Instead of returning his angry look, Levy scanned the room, taking in the chaotic mess that was Gajeel's bedroom. There was stuff everywhere. Most of it literal garbage to Levy's eye.

"Oi, don't ignore me!" Gajeel demanded. "How did you find this place? How did you get in?"

"Juvia told me where you lived. The door wasn't locked." Levy's response was short and to the point, still looking over the mess.

"Goddamnit, dad. I told you to lock the fucking door!" Gajeel yelled at the ceiling. He lowered his head to glare at Levy. At least she was looking much better now, the majority of her injuries having faded away completely. "Why the hell are you here?"

"Because I think you need someone to help look after you. It smells of alcohol in here. You shouldn't be drinking if you want to recover."

Levy yelped in surprise as a pillow hit her in the head. "I don't drink! I'm a fucking athlete when I'm not bedridden! I have no time to waste getting wasted!"

Levy chose not to pick up on his cute choice of words. "So, the alcohol smell…"

"Why do you think I don't invite people around here? My dad's a fucking loser!" Gajeel shouted. "Look at this place! You think I want anyone seeing the shithole I live in?"

"It's about the same as my place just with bad housekeeping," Levy said gently. She giggled slightly. "Well, since you're bedridden, there's nothing you can do while I clean this place up!"

"Hey, don't you dare touch my stuff, Shorty!"

Levy ignored him. She also ignored the constant threats that bombarded her, telling her to leave over and over again as she worked, stuffing old bags of crisps and fast food containers into bin bags. Gajeel made a couple of attempts to stand, but decided the effort wasn't worth it and rolled over to sleep. When he woke up, he rolled back to see his room in a surprising state of cleanliness. It was almost empty with the garbage gone, his meagre possession on shelves, his clothes in cupboards. He made an annoyed noise rather than admit that the space was rather nice.

Then his nose twitched, his stomach growling in empathy. Whatever Shorty was cooking up in the kitchen, it was the most delicious thing to be made in this property for a long time. He was salivating like Pavlov's dogs as she came in with a tray of chicken soup and bread. She set it down on his lap, but to his amazement, she sat down and took a spoonful of soup to feed him like some kind of baby. His expression clearly betrayed his anger.

"Come on, open up!" Levy said cheerily, smiling. He felt a blush creep into his cheeks. Her cuteness and bright personality were like a force of nature. Still, it was more than his masculinity could handle and he took the spoon from her. She didn't seem to mind as he ate, giggling at his bravado.

"It's good for you to eat up. You need to regain your strength," she said offhandedly.

"You said earlier that Juvia told you where I live. How did you talk to her?"

Levy frowned. "Well, we share classes; it wasn't hard to find her."

"Did someone hit you in the head? You go to two different schools; how could you possibly share classes?"

"You haven't heard!?" Levy asked shrilly. "Didn't you get a letter?" Gajeel shook his head and Levy went on. "After your headmaster was charged with several crimes, your school fell apart at the seams. No one was willing to spend the money to restore it, so it was dissolved. Your students have been split amongst the neighbouring schools. Fairy High and Sabre High have taken most of them, I believe."

Gajeel was stunned. Not that he particularly cared for his old school, but this was a massive change. Was he supposed to be going somewhere else? Holy shit, had he been sent to the Fairies' school? They'd hate him there! He looked up, noticing that Levy had gone while he was thinking. She returned, carrying a small pile of envelopes. Trust his dad not to bother opening them while he was laid up.

"Any bills?" He asked warily.

"Um… no, I think you're okay. But look at this one." Levy ripped it open and began reading, completely ignoring his privacy. "We are writing to inform you… blah, blah, blah… that you are now enrolled at Fairy High! That's so great! You can join our team!"

"Whoa! This is all going a bit a fast, Shorty! Maybe it's easy for short people who are so short that no one is going to notice them, but for us non-short-"

"Gajeel, you get too short-oriented when you're being defensive."

"I am not defensive!"

"Sure you are. It'll be fine, you know. Everyone will love you once you shed that thorny exterior and they get to see that creamy centre." Levy squealed as a second pillow hit her that day. It was thrown with enough force to almost push her over. "Gajeel!"

"You're being too familiar. I don't like it," Gajeel snarled.

"Yeah, that's because you're a pig-headed fool," Levy replied, not giving an inch. "Letting someone look after you is not a sign of weakness."

"Leave me alone," Gajeel said sullenly, rolling over, away from her.

"Okay," Levy replied, picking up the tray with the now empty bowl. "I'll see you tomorrow!"

**===][===**

Levy sang to herself as she washed up the dishes in Gajeel's kitchen. He'd hurled a barrage of expletives at her after her pronouncement, but Levy found it amusing. Poor man, unable to let his guard down. She shivered slightly as she heard the front door slam shut and heavy footsteps approach down the corridor.

"Who the hell are you?"

Levy turned to face the adult Redfox. He stank of alcohol, and he was dishevelled, with a huge black beard sprouting from his face. Her immediate instinct was that he looked like a homeless man. Gajeel's father was an enormous person, broad across his shoulders. It was easy to see where Gajeel got his physique.

"Um…h-hello, Mr Redfox. I'm Levy, a friend of your son's."

He frowned at that information. "You're wrong. That boy has no friends."

"Then it pleases me to be the first, Mr Redfox!" Levy said forcefully, trying not to be intimidated. The man sat down at the table in the kitchen, leaning back lazily.

"That smells good. Any for me?" Levy had left a large pot of soup on the oven so that Gajeel could just reheat it if he needed. She saw no harm in ingratiating herself with his dad at the same time. "And the name is Garren. I hate being called so formally, Rene."

"Um…it's Levy," she responded, setting down a bowl of soup. Was an inability to use names correctly genetic?

"Well, the Levy is delicious, Rene. Tastes just like chicken soup."

"No, I meant… oh, just forget it. Um… your son seems to be recovering well. You must have been so worried when he was injured."

"Of course. I know I look like a bad father, but I'm not such a bastard that I don't care if my son gets shot."

"Of course!" Levy shrilled, worried that she'd offended him. "I didn't mean it like that!"

"It's been hard, you know. Since Valerie passed away. I wasn't always this bum." Levy was silent. She'd known him for about thirty seconds and he was already pouring out his life story to her. Levy was an empathetic person and she felt he probably didn't have many chances to pour his emotions out. Not amongst men, anyway. And of course, the idea of hearing about Gajeel's mother intrigued her. "It was you, wasn't it?"

The sudden question startled Levy. "What was me?"

"Gajeel's been acting differently recently. Better. I didn't realise he'd picked himself up a little cutie of a girlfriend."

"N-no! I'm not his… I mean, I want… I… I'm not his girlfriend!" Levy gabbled, her cheeks betraying her with a bright pink flush. Garren chuckled, a deep sound.

"They say that all men marry their mothers, but you're very different from Valerie. Well, at least on the outside. She was kind hearted, though." He smiled sadly at the thought and withdrew an old photo from his wallet. Levy took it and her eyes boggled. Her eyes and smile were pure Gajeel, like a wild animal. Her hair was ebon, but much shorter than Gajeel's mane. More importantly was the physique. "Yep! Gajeel's a pedigree boxer. Val was an amateur and I was her coach. We got out of it when she fell pregnant."

"S-she looks scary," Levy said lamely, failing to find anything to say. Garren laughed loudly.

"Oh, she was! But I promise you, you wouldn't find a kinder woman in the entire country. She was a lamb dressed in wolf's furs."

"U-um… how did she die?" Levy asked quietly.

"It was two years ago now. She got a tumour in her head. I can never remember the big words the doctors used to call it, but it was just unlucky. Life is not kind sometimes. Smokers live to their nineties, health addicts drop dead at twenty. She was one of the unlucky ones. Then again, our family has always been a bit weak in the head, so maybe it makes sense."

"I'm sorry to pry," Levy said genuinely. She flipped the photo over. On the back, it said 'to me dearest Metalicana'. "Who is Metalicana?"

Garren looked shocked, and then in pain, as if he hadn't expected that jab to his memories. "It's a bit of a long story, but Gajeel believed that his mother was made of iron after watching her fight. She told him that I was the one who made her strong as his coach. The little eight year old he was then made up some story about how in another world I was a dragon of metal, giving out iron powers to anyone who wanted them."

"Other worlds," Levy said with a faint smile at the childlike notion. "I wonder what I'd be like in that world. Did you also coach Gajeel?"

"For a while. But… I couldn't do it. It reminded me too much of her."

Levy didn't quite understand Gajeel's hate for his father. He wasn't a bad man, just a profoundly sad one. "Still, it looks like you also gave Gajeel that body of iron."

"Thank you," Garren replied quietly, small tears in the corners of his eyes.

**===][===**

Gray peered around the doorway. His life had become so much harder since the influx of Phantom High students had come to this school. Not because of the scary ones like Aria, but rather…

"Gray-sama!" Gray pitched sideways as a warm body slammed into him, arms wrapping around one of his. He sighed deeply. He had no idea what magic Juvia employed to be invisible, but it clearly worked. "How is my lovely Gray-sama today?"

"Well…"

"Then Juvia will make it better! You stay with me and I'll make sure that you have a great day!"

Gray sighed again and looked down at her. She now wore the pink uniform of Fairy High's cheerleaders. She'd been integrating fairly well, although she seemed to dislike Lucy for some reason. "You know, you look much better in our uniform."

"G-gray-sama! Juvia was not expecting such forwardness!" She cried, blushing.

"You're accusing ME of being forward!?" Gray shouted, appalled. Thankfully, the bell for class rang at that moment. As all of the students filed into the classroom, there was some kind of hubbub outside. Eventually, Mira and Macao entered the classroom, dragging in football players and cheerleaders from other classes to group them into one place.

"I think everyone is here," Mira said. "We have a big announcement, and we needed all the sports stars together for this. This morning, the principal received a letter from a student at Cerberus High."

Cana perked up suddenly. Was it Bacchus?

"Those hound dogs?" Natsu asked. "I guess they want to surrender before they even start!"

"Shut it!" Macao rapped. "It's the opposite. They've just declared war with this."

"It's really quite interesting," Mira said airily. "What they want to do is switch the football players and cheerleaders."

"What?" Erza asked, seemingly confused.

"They want the girls to play the football game and the boys to do the cheerleading," Macao clarified.

"WHAT!?" The class cried after a moment's silence as the news sank in.

"The principal likes the idea; he thinks it's fun," Mira said. "We think they want to do this because their football team has had poor results, but they've just taken in an influx of girls from Mermaid High." Mermaid High was a girls only school that shut down last year. It's student body was combined with the boy's school, Cerberus High, forming a co-ed school.

"Wait, this letter. Who was it from?" Erza asked, seeming to know the answer.

"Kagura Mikazuchi," Mira said, confirming her fears.

"Then we cannot back down!" Erza raged, slamming a fist into her desk. "We'll crush them, won't we girls!?"

"Hey, hey," Lucy said, hands held high. "We're not all built like you!" Levy and Lisanna nodded vigourously in agreement.

"Oh? Is love rival a chicken?" Juvia tittered.

"Sounds like it'll be wild to me!" Cana sniggered.

"We accept!" Erza shouted loudly.

"Hey!" Natsu snapped. "I'm not a cheerleader! You expect us boys to dance around with pom-poms!?"

Erza stepped over to him, eyes glaring with anger. "You say something?"

"N-no!?" Natsu squealed. He looked up as Mira was over him a similarly demonic expression.

"You boys will be training with me for a while," the demon promised.

**===][===**

"…FOUR!"

"WILD…"

"...FOUR!"

"Wild… Hey Bacchus, why aren't you joining in?" Rocker asked. "We have to practise our cheer!"

Bacchus looked up from the grass of the pitch he was lounging on. "There ain't nothing wild about this. We're just a bunch of puppies kicked aside by those Mermaid girls. They're more wild than we are."

"Then you argue with Kagura," Rocker said through gritted teeth. Bacchus had to agree with that. He had no interest in 'explaining' anything to Kagura. Nor did want to explain anything to Cana. He felt frustrated and betrayed by her. She'd been unwilling to look under the surface of the incident, and he thought that she was better than that.

"Oi, you still in trouble with the police?" Novarly asked.

"No, apparently Jose made a full confession. The man's such a fucking coward that he just caved instantly under questioning."

"That was pretty wild of you, saving that Phantom like that!" Seamus shouted.

"Hounds run in packs," Bacchus replied cryptically. "That guy seriously needs a pack of his own."

**===][===**

"I don't need anyone to look after me!" Gajeel shouted… while quickly tucking into the food Levy had placed before him. They were in his kitchen this time, and Gajeel was up and about now. The trouble was making sure that he didn't move around too much.

"I guess you'll be coming to school again soon," Levy said cheerily. "It'll be so nice to have you there!"

"Why do you care?" Gajeel asked callously. "Don't you have enough friends as it is?"

Levy ignored his brusqueness. "Well, it's good that the football team won't be playing. It means that you'll have to wait for the next game, so you can rest up your injury. Jet too. His leg is fine, by the way."

"Don't care."

"You should," Levy replied with a pout.

"You scared about the next game?" Gajeel asked, changing the subject.

"A football team's eleven players, right? As long as we don't take too many injuries I can just sit on the bench. I have to be the last pick, what with my… um… feminine physique." Gajeel chuckled at her choice of words, but thankfully kept eating rather than offer a short joke. "The point is, I'll be fine."

"If there is a god, surely he'll allow me the pleasure of watching you on the pitch. That will be funny as hell!"

"You're very rude to the person who just cooked you dinner and cleaned your house!" Levy said, finally allowing her annoyance to show. An expression briefly flitted across Gajeel's face, showing that he felt at least somewhat bad, but then it was gone.

"The food is good," he said simply. Levy smiled, taking the small compliment. For Gajeel, it was like gushing praise.

"You scared?" She asked, returning his question. He raised a brow and she elaborated. "I mean, about joining Fairy High. People there still don't like you much, despite me trying to say that you're actually a nice guy."

"Why are you wasting so much time on me?" Gajeel asked. "I'm not worth it."

"Well, I think you are!" Levy responded forcefully. She blushed slightly, as did Gajeel. To cover the moment, she took a book out of her bag. "You'll love this. Our English class just got a new book report. Guess which book?" She threw a copy of Animal Farm on the table.

"Hot damn. I actually have an edge in English Lit," Gajeel said with vague astonishment.

"If you don't get an A, I'll be angry. So let's go through this. I'll wash up and join you in your bedroom."

Gajeel did as he was told, going to wait on his bed. To his surprise, when Levy came in, she had switched to forceful tactics. She sat right next to him with the book and leaned into him. Involuntarily, he moved his left arm around her to support her.

"You can read it from there?" She asked, opening the book, crimson cheeks hidden by the angle.

"Uh… yeah…"

"Good. Then I'll begin."

**Yeah, Gajeel's dad is the same concept as my Edo-Metalicana from another fic. I kind of like how AU Fairy Tail stories make some sense, in the idea that there are many universes, like Edolas, to explore! Maybe… the real world is part of it… woah o.O**


	8. Hard Training

**Fairy High**

**Chapter 8**

**Hard Training**

With a sad sigh, Gajeel pushed open the doors and entered Fairy High for the first time. The reaction was instantaneous. He could see huddles of students whispering and casting fearful glances in his direction. He chuckled, vaguely enjoying the attention. It was good to know that he still scared people. A trio of youngsters stepped in front of him suddenly, barring his way.

"What do we have here, then?" Bixlow asked archly. "The one who broke Jet's leg."

"This is the scum who hurt our little Levy, isn't it?" Evergreen asked, clearly not asking.

"It sickens me to see such an uncouth piece of scum associating with her still. It seems that you've managed to convince her that someone else attacked her." Fried spat on the ground in disgust. "A gentle flower is being trodden into the dirt by a brute."

Gajeel stepped forward, resting his forehead inches from Fried's. "Go on, poncey-boy, take a swing if you feel hard enough."

Bixlow cracked his knuckles in anticipation. Evergreen moved ever so slightly into Gajeel's side arc and Fried pressed forward slightly so that their heads actually contacted. A tense moment passed.

"Gajeel-kun!" Juvia cried, throwing herself into the middle of the mess. "It's so good to see you up and about! How are you feeling? How is your wound treating you?" Despite her best efforts, then tension was not dropping.

"Fried! Bixlow! Ever! Leave him alone, he's not worth the hassle!" Laxus shouted, approaching the area. "He's just a piece of shit, not worth the time or effort to beat up." Slowly, the tension of the moment passed as the three students relented on Laxus' orders. Perhaps he should have been glad, but Gajeel could not let the moment pass.

"Run away like dogs, it suits you." The dirty look Laxus gave him made it feel worthwhile, but the pout from Juvia kind of ruined it.

"Why can't you be nicer, Gajeel-kun!? Levy-san is trying so hard to make people like you!"

"I never asked her to."

"That's not the point!"

Fortunately for Gajeel, the bell rang at that point and he sauntered away.

**===][===**

"Alright class!" Mr Capricorn snapped, slamming a cane into the whiteboard with a terrific crack. "Take out your copies of Animal Farm and your study notes. Let's see how many of you actually paid any attention to the material."

"If you don't stop looking at me, I'll push your forehead into your brain," Gajeel snarled quietly to Natsu, who was glaring at him. It was only his first class of the day and he was already in an argument!

"You took Lucy's seat," Natsu stated in response.

"So? It's not got her name on it. You're the idiot who then sat next to me."

"Mr Dragneel!" Natsu sat bolt upright as Capricorn called his name. "Since I'm sure that you've been reading dutifully, perhaps you'd like to give me your take on the character of Boxer?"

"I…uh…well, he's…a horse?"

"Mr Dragneel, is that really all of the insight you have to give?"

"You only picked on me because I was talking to Metalface!" Natsu retorted, trying to shuck blame. "Why don't you single him out too?"

"Mr Redfox has only just started. It would be unfair…"

"Boxer," Gajeel started, a huge shit-eating grin over his face, "is supposed to represent the average worker. He works for the state – in this case Manor Farm – for his whole life, hoping for a payout at the end, but in the end is instead shafted by the system. It's a commentary on how it's only the superiors may enjoy a good retirement. It is also perhaps true that he is the most sympathetic character in the book and his death is calculated to tweak the reader's emotion in order to keep them reading."

The silence that followed might just have been the greatest moment in Gajeel's entire life. The entire class – Levy excepted – stared at him slack-jawed in surprise.

"T-that's not fair!" Natsu shouted.

"Thank you, Mr Dragneel. Please do sit down. Maybe Mr Redfox's good example will rub off on you." Capricorn ignored the violent choke of rage from Natsu to continue. "Now, let's talk briefly about my favourite character, Benjamin the goat…" (A/N: Get it? Because Benjamin's a goat and Capricorn's a… I'll stop now.)

**===][===**

The girls were out on the football field. The armour the boys wore wouldn't have fitted them in any useful way, so they were stuck in their cheerleader's uniforms for the moment. Macao was reading from the clipboard.

"Okay, listen up. I'm going to read my starting roster of eleven. Erza. Cana. Lucy. Bisca. Lisanna. Laki. Wendy. Juvia. Evergreen. Kinana. Levy."

"What!?" Levy squealed loudly, startling the girls. "B-but, football's a rough and tumble game for big, brutish people! I'm the smallest person here!"

Macao shook his head. "No, this is our grand master plan! Now, Mira has been reading the official high school football rules over and over again, and there are no rules governing throwing your own players!"

"What!?" The girls shouted as one.

"Indeed! This is what you girls can do that the boys cannot! You're not lineswomen or blitzers, your cheerleaders! So we're going to put your athleticism to the test! Imagine Erza throwing Levy or Lisanna over the line of scrimmage to head for the endzone? It's perfect!"

"A good plan," Erza stated, to a barrage of sweatdrops from the assembled girls.

"What we need is way to make you lot learn the game as quickly as possible. So, in the sink or swim method, I've lined up some opponents for you to play against." The girls looked on in horror as eleven of the boys marched out in full football uniform. "Mira agrees that learning the cheers will be less hard than learning the game, so she's agreed to lend me some players every now and again for a little practice. Now boys, don't go easy on them because they're girls!"

"Of course," Natsu replied, cracking his knuckles.

"W-wait a minute!" Lucy screamed. "They're wearing armour and we have nothing. They're all big and strong and experts at the game! How is this fair!?"

Macao looked her straight in the eye. "Sink or swim."

If there is any justice in the world, at least it was brief. Apart from Erza, a warrior goddess on the pitch, none of the girls could even begin to stand against the physical might of the boys – people who trained day in day out to kick ass on the football pitch. For a moment it looked like they might hold – until Erza got sent off for a particularly violent tackle. The rest folded like deckchairs.

"I can see the light, Lu-chan. It's so warm."

"No! Stay with me, Levy-chan! Don't go into the light!"

"Medic!" Lisanna cried.

"The horror, the horror," Wendy mumbled, rocking back and forth.

"I'm going to die!" Evergreen wept.

"Girls!" Macao shouted. "Do you understand why I made you do this? This team is our very best; and we're going to win the entire league! This was as bad as it was ever going to get and you survived! No matter what the Mermaids bring, it can't be worse, it's all downhill. Go home and rest and tomorrow, we'll start training for real!"

**===][===**

"Ow, ow, ow, ow," Lucy complained, nursing several bruises. After the practice, Lucy, Levy and Wendy and hung around in the bleachers to talk. "Can someone please remind me why we're doing this again?"

"It seems like Erza's all fired up," Levy sighed. "She has some reason to want to face this Kagura person. But, I have no idea why."

"I remember her saying something a long time ago about a childhood friend who she fell out with. Was that Kagura?" Wendy guessed. Silence passed for a few moments as they processed that.

"Well one thing is sure," Lucy stated, "if it's to do with Erza, it must be a super serious thing. She's not the sort to fall out over trivial matters. I think the only thing we have to discuss here is how Levy-chan's relationship with Gajeel is progressing."

"Does that mean…?"

"Yes, Levy-chan. I've seen him around a bit. He's a bit scary and not very well-mannered, but he doesn't seem to be a bad guy. He also seems to be quite smitten with you."

"I really don't think so…" Levy replied with a faint blush.

"No, I saw it too!" Wendy said forcefully. "It's only these little things, like how he positions his head when you talk or how his body language isn't so blocked against you, but it's definitely there!"

"Oi, Shorty!" The bellow made Levy flail with sudden panic. Gajeel was approaching the bottom of the bleachers, looking up with his cocky smirk. Oh lord, had he heard them? "My injuries' getting better, so I'm going to start training again. Based on today, I think you need to come with me! It was really funny when Elfboy ran into you – you span in the air!"

"It wasn't funny!" Levy shouted back at him. "That hurt a lot!"

"Gihihi! Then you'll need to toughen up!"

"I don't wanna spend my free time running! I want to read-gurkh!" Lucy's hand went over Levy's mouth arresting her speech.

"What Levy-chan means to say is that she'd be delighted. She'll meet you tomorrow morning at seven, okay?" Lucy was grinning like the devil as Levy squirmed and tried to escape.

"Okay. Tell Shorty to bring more appropriate clothes than those skimpy uniforms you guys wear. I'm gonna push her to her limit and beyond. I'll break her and remould her! Why is she crying?"

"Oh don't mind her, she's just overcome with the joy of the prospect of getting stronger. You know how we girls can get so emotional."

"You are a strange breed," Gajeel agreed, ignoring the sour looks he was receiving. Finally, Levy managed to dislodge Lucy's hand and gasp out a question.

"How was your first day?"

"A couple of run-ins with people who want my head, but overall it wasn't so bad," Gajeel admitted. "Everything seems cleaner and nicer here than in Phantom High, so that's a bonus. The teacher's also seem to be less asshole-ish, which is good."

"I'm glad you enjoyed it here!" Levy said with a happy smile. Gajeel looked away. Damn it, what the hell was up with her smile!? It was like the fucking sun or something! Levy never noticed, but the movement was not lost on Lucy or Wendy who shared a glance. Levy would get a hell of a ribbing later on.

**===][===**

"Are you sure you're twenty one?" The barman took the proffered ID with a frown, but it appeared to be in order. "Thank you, miss Alberona."

"No problem, now pour me a pint!" Cana replied with a cheeky grin, trying not to think too hard on how her father would react to discovering the fake ID. She began to knock back the sacred liquid and took a look around the bar. It was fairly quiet and not much was going on, to her disappointment. However, she noticed something and went to a side table.

"What are you doing, drinking by yourself?"

"Drowning my sorrows; what does it look like?" Bacchus replied archly, raising an eyebrow.

"You always told me that alcohol was for enjoyment, not as a cure for depression."

"What do you care?" He snarled harshly. "You've made your choice."

Cana stared at him for a long time. Finally, she spoke. "I was wrong." Bacchus looked up at that. "I've met Gajeel now, and seen the way Levy interacts with him. He might be a gothic asshole, but he's not the sort that would have hurt her. I'm sorry I didn't listen to you."

"Well, I suppose that's something."

"There's nothing wild about moping."

"Damn you, stop pushing my buttons."

Cana could see the life coming back into his voice and began to ramp up her teasing. "Oh? Because we girls are just gonna keep getting wilder and wilder and we're gonna stomp your ladies into the dirt!"

"Oh yeah!?" Bacchus slurred drunkenly. "With our manly wild cheering team spurring them on, there ain't nothing our girls can't do! And nothing's gonna stop Kagura! She's one scary lady!"

"No way she's worse than our Erza!"

"I'll drink you under the table to prove you're wrong!"

"You're on! Wild…"

"Four!" An hour later, the pair sprawled over the table, dozens of empty glasses around them. Cana raised her head drearily.

"Hey, Bacchus?"

"What?"

"I have a question. Something we've been trying to figure out. Do you know what Kagura's problem with Erza is?"

Bacchus shrugged. "Don't know. Apparently something happened between them a long time ago. Only Milliana is close enough to Kagura to know any more. I should try pumping her for information. A few cute cat photos should do it. Now I have a question. Are we cool?"

Cana looked up and smiled. "Yeah, we're cool."

"Good. I hated being angry with you."

"Me too."

**===][===**

It was late at night, and Erza was in the park, staring at a small sandbox that she'd once played in as a young girl. It was a quiet night, the air very still. She could easily hear the footsteps approaching.

"Brings back memories, huh?" Said a voice behind her.

"It does, Kagura," Erza replied without turning. "It's been a long time since we were here, playing as little children. Everything was so much easier back then, wasn't it?"

"It was – until you betrayed me."

"Is that how you see it?" Erza's eyes narrowed. "It's not how I remember it."

"It doesn't matter. Soon, we will meet on the field of battle, and I will have my revenge. I've seen your girls, they're all a bunch of softies, like little babies. It frustrates me that they will represent womankind in the years to come, making us all look bad."

"Now, I cannot forgive you. For what happened… and insulting my friends. We'll show you how good we are, I promise you that much."

**===][===**

Levy knocked on Gajeel's front door, pacing slightly to ward off the morning chill. She wore a blue tracksuit as ordered. Finally, the door was opened by Gajeel's father, Garren.

"Good morning, Charlene! Gajeel's gonna be right out!"

"Charlene!? No, my name…"

"Come on Char!" Gajeel said with an enormous grin as he pushed through the front door. He wore a black hoodie and grey tracksuit bottoms. "Time's a wasting!"

"What is it with your family and names!?" Levy shouted, hurrying after him. As Gajeel started his run, he wasn't going too fast, and Levy felt that she could keep up. Sure, with her shorter stride and stamina, she'd wear out faster, but she could…

"Dash!" Gajeel shouted, suddenly tearing down the pavement at top speed. Levy blinked, utterly surprised as Gajeel was suddenly a hundred metres ahead of her. To watch him from the stands was one thing, but to be next to him was a whole different perspective. He looked back. "Oi! When I shout 'dash', you dash, yeah?"

"I-I didn't know!"

"It's part of training! Not only stamina, but you have to push the limit sometimes to get faster! And you're pretty slow with your short legs!"

"I am not-"

"Then dash!" Anticipating the shout, Levy ran as fast her legs could take her, but it was like a cat compared to a cheetah. The distance between them was enormous. Thank the heavens that Gajeel was not going to be her opponent. As he waited for to catch up, she saw him shadow box, weaving and bobbing.

"You… miss boxing?" She gasped as she caught up. They'd reached a park, empty save for morning joggers and dog walkers.

"I was good at it," Gajeel replied laconically.

"But… boxing's such a violent sport. Isn't it just hitting another guy?"

"No," Gajeel replied firmly. "It's about discipline, martial training, locking horns with someone as good as you and bettering them anyway. That's what boxing was to me." Levy remembered that it was the family business, what his deceased mother had done, and his father had coached.

"M-maybe you should drop out of the football team," she suggested quietly.

"What? Weren't you the one telling me to be more of a team player?"

"Yes, but if boxing is the thing that makes you happy, then you should pursue it. I'm not sure if Fairy High has a boxing programme though…" Levy's words trailed off as she became lost in thought. Gajeel flicked her forehead. "Hey! What was that for?"

"You're thinking too hard about other people's problems. Don't stress yourself, Shortstuff. It's my life."

"Well, if you stay on the football team, won't you be cheerleading in the next game?" Levy asked.

"I-I hadn't thought about… oh fuck!"


	9. Panther

**Fairy High**

**Chapter 9**

**Panther**

"T-this is… I can't… I just…"

"Oh? Did you say something, Gajeel?" Mira asks sweetly. Gajeel trembled under that sweet, pleasant smile. It was clearly laced with evil. He was out on the field with all the boys –thankfully in football jerseys – practicing their cheers. They had pompoms.

Pompoms!

The boys were having enormous problems with their masculine pride. The only thing keeping them from fleeing the pitch in shame was the demon coordinator, Mirajane. It was perhaps no shock that Elfman had most readily accepted his fate.

"Giving up your male pride is manly," he conceded.

"There's nothing less manly!" Laxus hissed.

"I'm sorry, Laxus. I didn't hear that," Mira said.

"Aye sir!" Laxus snapped.

"That didn't even make any sense," Bixlow moped.

"Okay boys," Mira clapped her hands together. "Let's give it another shot!"

The boys formed into two lines as they'd been shown, the taller ones in the back. On the concept of baby steps, all they had to do was move their arms in time with one another. No dance moves, legs firmly still. Any moron could do it.

Natsu knocked Gray and everything descended from there. The group vanished into a brawl, fists flying all directions as they unleashed their tension upon one another. For the first time, Gajeel felt at home. This was a dynamic that he understood and that felt right. And yet, he was confused. Why had everyone stopped? Why was everyone looking scared? Only he and Natsu – oblivious as always – hadn't noticed Mira walk into the scrum and start cracking heads together.

"Gajeel. Natsu. Can you stop fighting please?"

"Aye sir!" They piped, hugging each other as only incredibly good friends would.

"Good! Okay, let's try this again."

**===][===**

"Alright, Levy! Lisanna!" Macao snapped. "I want to use you two as our main runners since you're the smallest. We'll be trying the throwing plays, but it's also true that you should be the best at dodging. First, we'll do a speed test."

All of the girls lined up in one end zone, having to dash all of the way to the end zone and back again. A decent runner should do it in about thirty seconds. Erza did it in twenty seven, quickly followed by Cana. Levy collapsed over the line a full thirty seconds later, only just beaten by Lucy and Lisanna.

"This isn't good," Lucy panted. "We can't outrun anyone at this rate."

"It's not all about raw speed," Macao corrected. "You don't have to make a touchdown in a single play and it's going to be about dodging. It's interesting, the different dynamic you ladies bring to the game. We're not going to batter our way through like mindless brutes. We'll play this cleverly. Now, we're going to try throwing and catching."

As it turned out, to absolutely no one's surprise, Erza had an arm like a cannon, able to easily launch the ball downfield. Bisca also turned out to be something of a sniper, lacking the range but being incredibly accurate.

As one of the forward positions, Levy had to try catching rather than throwing. She took about three balls to the face before giving up. This wasn't fair! She signed up to be a cheerleader! She wasn't built for all this torture! She felt upset to see how disappointed Macao looked. He'd been pinning some of his hopes on her, and she couldn't fulfil them.

After the practice was over, she went to see him by herself. He raised a hand, telling her that she'd get better.

"No, it's not that. There's something else I want to talk to you about…"

**===][===**

"It's almost time, Bacchus. Are you ready?"

"Ah, Kagura! You look so uptight as usual! How about a drink and we relax?" Bacchus' head twisted to the side, avoiding the thunderous slap. "Or… to answer your question, yes, we're ready."

"Good. There's only a few days left. We'll see you on the pitch."

"You'll lose."

"Say that again," Kagura warned, looking over her shoulder. "It might shorten your lifespan."

"Now I'll admit, our boys would have lost to them – bunch of puppies they are – but your girls aren't up to their standards. Trust me, you aren't going to beat my Cana or Erza."

"I know Erza's capabilities very well. Football is a team game. Their strongest player isn't important; it's their average. And when it comes to Cana I just hope you remember which side you're on."

"Of course, of course! Wild…" Kagura did not respond to the refrain and marched away, making Bacchus chuckle. "Yep. One way or another, this is going to be a wild match."

**===][===**

"Oi, Gajeel!" In the middle of a crowded corridor full of bustling students, Gajeel turned to see Macao heading towards him. He didn't know the coach at all and just glared at him as they approached each other. If Macao was bothered, he didn't show it. He shoved a piece of paper into his hand. It said 'Mr Pardus' on it and had an address.

"There's a gift to you. He's someone I know. Owns a local gym. Go to see him. He can help you with your boxing."

"Who told you about that?" Gajeel snarled, knowing full well the answer. How dare she pry into his private matters? It was his own damn business!

"You know, your friend pool is not the largest in the world, and that girl clearly cares about you for some reason, so why don't you get your ungrateful ass in gear and pay that man a visit?" Macao snapped, stunning Gajeel. The coach at Phantom High treated him like royalty – he wasn't used to this straight talk. Still, when he next saw Levy, he took her aside.

"I know you think you're being nice, but stay the fuck out of my business," he hissed. He marched away, trying not to hate himself for clearly upsetting her.

**===][===**

Gajeel had no idea why he went, but he did. He stood outside the gym in the early morning. It was a small building, only a single story high and dominated by one large room full of exercise gear. A boxing ring took pride of place in the very middle. Gajeel summoned up his courage and went in.

There was almost no on here at this time of day and Gajeel stood out like a sore thumb. He saw a huge black guy notice him and stand to come greet him. He looked about thirty years old, had alabaster cropped hair and a scar over his left eye.

"Hey there, boy. Now, based on the description, I'm gonna guess you're Gajeel, right?"

"And that makes you, Mr Pardus, right?" Gajeel replied aggressively, not liking how this man had the control in this place.

"Calm down, boy. You're with friends here. Macao was telling me that you have aspirations to become a pro boxer? In fact, I do remember a young Redfox on the amateur scene a while back, but you disappeared off of the radar."

"It's a long story. You've seen the Phantom High scandal in the papers, right?" Pardus nodded. "That asshole was blackmailing me, stirring up rumours that could finish me. But…he's behind bars now. There's no truth to those rumours… but my coach couldn't support me anymore. My… Dad… was finished."

"I see. Do you miss it?"

"Huh?"

"Boxing. Do you miss boxing?"

"Yes. I didn't realise it, but I do. Football's okay, but it's not _my _sport."

Pardus nodded at those words, smiling. "Yeah, when you find something you love, it can't be denied. Come into the backroom. Let me take some of your details down and give you a physical." In the back room, Pardus poked and prodded an increasingly aggravated Gajeel. This physical would be so more pleasant if Shrimp were giving it.

Wait, what was that, brain?

Pardus sat back with a low whistle. "Damn son, but you're one impressive freak of nature."

"What?" Gajeel snarled. "I am not a freak!"

"You aware of Usain Bolt, boy?"

Gajeel was slightly stalled by the seeming change in topic. "He's that gold medal runner guy."

"Usain Bolt is a freak of nature. Normal humans aren't put together like he is. The slight differences in the arrangements of his muscles make him a world class sprinter. Not to say that he's not a hard working athlete, but he is the one percent of humanity. Frankly, I see him winning every race from now until his retirement. You boy aren't a freak perhaps – though your piercings are weird – but you're an impeccable specimen. I couldn't ask for more."

"You're saying a lot, but it sounds like garbage to me."

"I'm saying that you're strong, boy." Pardus stood, heading back out into the gym. "This gym has held two boxing titles in its history. One was lost on the first defence. The other on its third. We haven't a lot of glory here, but I'm proud of all of my boys. I couldn't ask more from them, and I ask a lot." A pair of boxing gloves and headgear hit Gajeel in the face. "Warm up and get in the ring. I want to see you spar."

It felt weird, Gajeel thought as he stepped into the corner. It had been so long. He hated the headgear, though. Spars and Amateur fights were so coddled. He wanted to be a pro, slugging it out on the world stage. He panicked as he saw his opponent. Pardus stepped into the opposite corner, an intimidating mountain of muscle.

"Hey… wait a sec! You gotta be at least two weight classes above me!"

"Oh look, Lily's gonna fight!" One of the gym regulars shouted, a small crowd forming. Lily? Gajeel looked up at the man.

"My name is Leonardo Pardus. My friends call me Lily. Maybe I'll tell you why sometime. Now, show me that I'm not wasting my time with you. Ding ding." With his makeshift bell sound, Lily stormed across the ring. He swung aside in sheer shock as a right straight hurtled at his face. Gajeel hadn't hesitated for a second and had come right for him.

But this position was advantageous for Lily. He was an expert in hooks and came in low from Gajeel's left. With the headgear blocking peripheral vision, Gajeel would not see it coming. Even if he did, he'd backstep, which Lily could follow up with a…

Gajeel stepped in, slamming his shoulder into Lily's sternum and hurling him back. Lily had just enough time to register his surprise as Gajeel stepped in yet again and hit his head with a bullet-like rabbit punch, over-balancing him and sending him to the mat.

Not ten seconds in and a down. This boy was a brave hunter, stepping forward where most people would retreat. Gajeel towered over him, every inch the dominant champion. Lily grinned. This boy was perfect.

**===][===**

Levy felt awful. She knew that Gajeel was a private sort of person, but she'd only been trying to help. He had been angry – though much less than she knew he was capable of – and it had hurt. She'd cried a couple of times, but felt a bit stronger now.

There was a knock at the door. Levy shivered, the assault still fore in her mind. Lu-chan's men had come and reinforced all of the windows and doors here just as she'd promised, but it couldn't stop the fear.

"Oi, Shortass! Open this goddamn door, you short midget!"

Well, that voice could only belong to one person, Levy thought wryly. She went and opened the door. Gajeel stood there in all new training gear. He looked like a professional athlete, and Levy found herself blushing slightly.

"Get dressed, Shorty! We're going for a run!"

"Hey, you can't talk to me…"

"Shut up and hurry up!"

"Fine! Baka!" Levy slammed the door shut and went to put on her running gear. The pair ran out into the cool morning air.

"Macao told me you've been having trouble!" Gajeel snapped as they ran down empty morning streets. "I'm gonna get you up to par! Now, dash! You think you're gonna outrun anyone with that speed!?"

"Hey, I'm trying…"

"Try harder! Shift your weight more! Duck and weave – you're short so it should be easy!"

"Hey, you asshole…"

"If you have time to talk, you have the breath to run faster!" Gajeel tore down the street, leaving her in his wake. She glowered angrily and stepped up to her highest gear. She almost collapsed as she caught up to Gajeel in the park again, but he stomped up to her.

"Alright! Imagine I'm coming at you – high, like this – you have to duck and go right. Always go right, most people have dominant right hands, so there's less chance of them stopping you with their left. Now, let's ignore blocking and tackling since you're too puny to push a puppy over and focus purely on defence and dodging-"

"Gajeel! Slow down!" Levy held her hands up and puffed, trying to regain her breath. "Why are you doing this?"

"Because you helped me, I'm repaying the favour." Only Gajeel could make it sound quite so much like an insult. "You may just be a kitten, but I'll make you the fiercest kitten on that pitch, gihi!"

"Oh? I helped you?" Levy asked, expertly cutting through the bullshit to strike at the heart of the matter. Gajeel grunted in annoyance.

"I… I love boxing, alright!? I hadn't realised how much until I lost it and tried it again. I felt alive in that ring, pounding on a guy!"

"I can't pretend that I understand the appeal, but I'm glad that you're happy!" Levy said, beaming up one of those smiles that she had. Gajeel ruffled her hair simply to push that smile down and away from him – damn, but it was distracting!

"Can it, Shortstuff. You've got five days until the game, and I'm going to turn you into the best goddamn player on that pitch!"

**Hi there. I imagine a lot of people see the idea of boxer Gajeel as coming from 'Hard Liquor' by Miss Munroe. I won't pretend that I didn't first see the idea there, but this more stems from a love of the boxing manga 'Hajime no Ippo'. Gajeel would be perfect in that series. He's basically a pierced Takamura! Which, coincidentally, is where his son's name comes from in my other fics.**

**Oh, if you haven't read Hard Liquor, what is wrong with you? Also type 'Hard Liquor Fairy Tail' into YouTube and be amazed by the level of effort Rae put into that series!**

**Sorry, this ended up WAAAAAY more Gale centric than I'd planned.**


	10. Mermaids and Fairies

**Fairy High**

**Chapter 10**

**Mermaids and Fairies**

"I really don't want to go out there!" Natsu whispered. The boys were hunkering down before the packed stadium. Luckily, their cheerleader uniforms had ended up being modified versions of their normal jerseys, nothing pink or unmanly – but they still had pompoms and were about to go in front of a laughing crowd.

"Stop being such a pansy," Gajeel snarled. "We should just get it over and done with!"

"What was that, Scum!?" Laxus snapped. "Why are you even here, anyway!?"

"Tch. A small voice in the back of my head that keeps telling me to be a team player."

"That's not in your head, that's Levy," Gray noted, a drop of sweat forming on his brow. As they were arguing, the Cerberus High boys were coming on from the other side, clearly more fired up. They began to cheer, which was nothing more complicated than shouting 'Wild Four' over and over again.

"That's it!?" Natsu cried. "Our routine is better than that!"

"Then why don't you get out there and prove it?" The boys all shiver as Mira walks up behind them. The details of their training sessions are best left to their future psychotherapists. They'll be rich men and women for sure. Mira claps her hands. "Come on, boys! Show them what you can do! It's just the warm-up – you've still got until halftime for your big show!"

Right, that was true. Just a bit of crowd rousing for now. At last, they ran out onto the pitch, trying to ignore the laughter from the crowd. It wasn't helping that Jason was narrating once again.

"Look at those boys go! Cooooool! They're not embarrassed one bit by their girly activities! Look at them shake those pompoms! Coooool!"

"I-I've fallen so low!" Gajeel wept.

"Still, here come the girls! Coooooooooooooooooool!"

The boys began to gawk. Out came the fairy girls. Erza, Lucy, Levy, Lisanna, Juvia, Evergreen, all of them. They wore special uniforms made just for them, just for today. They were pink and striped with a vertical silver line, just like their normal cheerleading uniforms, but they were form fitting football kits with minor armour padding, noticeably in their shoulders. They carried red helmets in their hands.

"S-sexy!" Natsu shouted too loudly, watching Lucy. Gajeel quietly watched Levy, not quite understanding the feelings he was having. Gray was trying to force himself to believe that Juvia was not beautiful. Elfman was thinking of 'womanly' as a compliment for the first time.

Across the pitch came the other eleven players in much more bulky and severe black football gear. Kagura did not seem impressed as she met Erza in the centre circle.

"You think you can win with such a girly set up?"

"I think it's you that has missed the point," Erza replied confidently. "And we'll finally settle our rivalry."

"Yes, we will," Kagura swore. Matao the referee walked down the centre line towards them, clearly desperate to ogle but fully aware of the position that would aid a beating that would come his way. He held up a coin, declaring that the away team would call. "Heads."

The coin flipped into the air, spinning over and over.

"Tails." Erza smiled. Tails were the Fairies' thing after all. "We'll take the first drive. Come on girls, let's give them that play!"

Kagura formed up in the middle of her line of scrimmage, expecting to be facing Erza head on, but to her surprise, the red-head deferred to Cana, dropping back in line. Kagura was sure that Erza was their star player, so she must be attempting to be the receiver, and would run herself. There was no time to reform – she'd have to drop back after the snap.

To Kagura's complete lack of surprise, she watched the ball fall into Erza's hands and she pressed forward, expecting to knock down the girl before her. But the fairy held strong.

"Sorry love," Cana winked. Kagura was surprised that Fairy High had someone besides Erza able to rival her strength. There wasn't much she could do but trust her teammates as Erza broke away downfield, followed by a smaller girl she didn't recognize.

The first girl to meet Erza took a powerful shove and went sprawling. But then Milliana, Riley and Ariana were all converging on her at the same time. If Erza could beat them, she'd be uncontested for the rest of the pitch. But even she could not knock all three down.

Erza span, ditching the ball to Levy who had followed in her wake and knelt, cupping her hands. Levy stepped into it and with a powerful lurch, Erza threw Levy over the heads of the three incoming Mermaids. Not pausing for a second, Levy ran towards the endzone. Utterly surprised and wrong footed, the Mermaids didn't even try and stop her.

"Gihi, that's a touchdown to Shrimp!" Gajeel shouted over the cheering crowd, accidentally waving his pompoms around. He suddenly blushed as all of the boys looked at him askance. "Heh… hey, shouldn't we be cheering!?"

On the other side of the pitch, Bacchus grinned. "Cana stood up to that Kagura. That's pretty wild."

"That's illegal!" Kagura shouted at the referee. "They threw a player!"

"I don't know-kabo. There's nothing in the rulebook about it and their coach contacted me beforehand to check. The play is legal and stands."

Kagura gritted her teeth. This was just getting started. It was time for their drive. But as they play unfurled, something became very clear; the Fairies hadn't trained on power – they'd trained in agility. Their less bulky uniforms made them much nimbler. The Mermaids were having difficulties trying to get around them. Their drive ended after only getting about halfway downfield. Play returned to the Fairies.

The mermaids had a brief huddle. Kagura spoke. "We're in trouble, but I've seen the flaw in their plan. We'll change play styles. One important rule. When you tackle, try to drop down into it more. "

The Fairies' second play was different. Erza stood up to the line of scrimmage to personally tie down Kagura. With their strongest player nullified, the Fairy girls split in all directions. It was a storming, blitzing play. Five girls broke past the line, desperately dodging and weaving as they passed the ball between them. At the last gasp, Juvia dumped the ball to Lucy just before she was tackled and the blonde made the touchdown.

Again, the Mermaid's second play was shut down. The crowd was cheering. The Fairies were dominating the match! Not all of the spectators were so happy, though.

Gajeel gulped. "This… this is bad." The other boys looked at him as if he were crazy and ignored him. Damn Phantom still wanted them to lose!

"That Kagura… she's a nasty one," Bacchus noted. "Sorry Cana, the Fairies have lost."

The third play went similarly well. Passing the ball back to Bisca, the girl with sniper-like aim hurled the ball downfield to Lisanna. Though she was tackled, the ball had progressed and the Fairies finally scored their third point, courtesy of Cana. Then the Mermaids were stopped again. It was going brilliantly for the Fairies.

"Damn it, damn it, damn it," Gajeel snarled. "When did that Kagura bitch realise this?"

"What are you blabbering on about!?" Natsu snapped. "We're not just winning; we're stomping all over them!"

"In the next play, watch how the Mermaids tackle." Natsu did as he was told. This was another throwing play, and Erza hurled Levy over the line of scrimmage. Still, the Mermaids were more prepared this time, and Ariana was on Levy in an instant, much faster than Levy's short strides. To Gajeel's joy, Levy was able to duck and weave for a few moments, but Ariana was all over her and brought her down with a viscous tackle to her midsection. Still, she'd advanced the ball far and Juvia made the touchdown. Four points to Fairy High.

"Hey, that was pretty low down…" Natsu agreed.

"Barely legal. Not only that, but whenever they lock shoulders, the Mermaids are going low, striking our girl's chests – stop laughing, moron, I'm not talking about boobs! – and they're working. Kagura saw the weakness."

"What weakness?"

"In boxing, do you know what you do if you want to shut down your opponent's legs?" Natsu shook his head and Gajeel placed a fist against his side. "Body blows. They take time to work, but if you accumulate enough damage, you begin to feel weak in your legs. You slow down."

"So?"

"Damn it, moron! Our girls are winning because they've dismissed heavy armour and focussed on dodging! The Mermaids are having trouble because we're so manoeuvrable, but what happens if we lose that? Not only that, they've clearly trained in stamina, while we've skipped it. Without armour, our girls are more vulnerable to damage."

"So… they're aiming for the end game?"

"Yes. Kagura's a scary one! She's giving up the early game and betting it all on the last half!"

**===][===**

The girl's locker room was in a right state during the half time break. Dripping with sweat, the girls were sprawled all over the place.

"I-I can't go on!" Lucy croaked.

"I'm so tired!" Lisanna wept.

"It hurts," Levy mumbled.

Erza was the only one standing, and even she was leaning against the lockers, red-faced and gasping. It was exhausting, particularly to throw another girl by herself. To do it repeatedly for so long… This was the professional spotlight. Not only the sport, but the lights, the crowd, the attention – they all sapped stamina and wore you down, mentally and physically.

They needed a miracle.

**===][===**

"F-F. A-A. I-I. R-R. Y-Y. Fairy… High!" The boys roared with all of their might.

"Wild… FOUR! Wild… FOUR!" The hound dogs shouted in return.

It was probably the shabbiest display of cheerleading that had ever been on a football pitch. The crowd booed and jeered, throwing things at them as they laughed. It was embarrassing, humiliating. At least it was almost over, Bacchus thought. Halftime was ending and they could all go away.

"F-F. A-A. I-I. R-R. Y-Y. Fairy… High!"

"Oi, they're still cheering?" Rocker asked. The time limit's up!

"Hey hey, they're stalling!" Bacchus murmured, awe tinting his voice. "They know that their girls need a break, so they're giving them as long as possible!" Both of the girl teams had gathered at the edges of the pitch, and the Fairy girls looked dreadful. Bacchus saw Kagura march up to the ref, no doubt demanding that they get on with things.

Matao walked onto the field. "Hey guys, it's time to get off now."

"F-F. A-A. I-I. R-R. Y-Y. Fairy… High!"

"Hey, I've been nice! Don't ignore me!"

"F-F. A-A. I-I. R-R. Y-Y. Fairy… High!"

"Hey!"

"Wild!" Bacchus shouted suddenly before he realised what he was doing. Like Pavlov's dogs, there was nothing that could stop his team from responding. "Four!"

"Hey!" Mato shouted as the Cerberus boys began yelling and making a din as well.

"Oi, oi," Gajeel muttered, catching Bacchus' eye. "For Cana, right?" The Hounds and Fairies were 'cheering' – more shouting loudly, really – at one another, the poor referee stuck in the middle of it all. His requests for stopping were drowned out by the tremendous noise – not helped by the crowd beginning to boo. It took a whole ten minutes for the clamour to die down – a lot extra time for the girls to rest.

"Whose side are you on?" Kagura snapped as Bacchus sauntered past.

"Eh? We were just trying to outdo the Fairy boys. No big deal."

"You're hurting my plan, fool!"

"Fool!? I think you'll find that I'm wild!"

As Bacchus left, Kagura turned to her girls, irate. "Listen up! We have no time anymore. Hit them hard enough that they stay down."

**===][===  
**

The score was beginning to slip. Any rejuvenation from the rest the boys had brought them was short lived. They scored once more, but then the Mermaids instantly landed their first point of the match. Then the Fairies were increasingly shut down as the Mermaids made an increasing number of successful plays.

"This is tense," Natsu said. "Can they hold on to their lead until the final whistle?"

"They can because they're men!" Elfman declared.

"They're girls, you moron!" Gray shouted. Suddenly Juvia had the ball. "Go Juvia!"

"Gray-sama!?" Juvia found insane strength at the praise and rocketed downfield to score. "Did you see, Gray-sama!? Juvia did it for you!"

Still, the damage was being done. With five minutes left on the clock, the girls were about to collapse. Kagura decided to take things into her hands personally. The ball passed into her hands, and she began her blitz down the field. She shouldered aside a blonde fairy without paying attention as Riley held back the brunette she was sure had ensnared Bacchus.

As she broke from the line of scrimmage, she blazed past a platinum blonde before she could react. The last line of defence the fairies had was that tiny blunette hanging at the back. She bravely threw herself at Kagura, but the powerful Mermaid easily smashed her aside. She was free! Past all of the defenders, No one could catch her now!

Red lightning. At least that's what it seemed like to Kagura as Erza stormed in from the flank. How could she possible have the strength remaining to find this burst of speed? She hurried as fast as she could. The touchzone was so close now! Ten metres. Five metres. The world span as Erza slammed into her diagonally, forcing her down and away from her score.

"No!" Kagura raged. "We needed that point!"

"Too bad," Erza huffed. "As long as my nakama are fighting, I won't give up!"

As the final whistle blew, the score was in the Fairies favour. They'd done it! Through tactics and perseverance, they'd won! The crowd went wild. The boys rushed the pitch, eager to congratulate their girls. Lucy squeaked as Natsu hurled himself into a hug. Gray found Juvia performing the same thing to him.

Gajeel stooped to scoop Levy off of the pitch. "Easy… it hurts."

"That's the feeling of victory, Shrimp. You did well." They both blushed as they realised that people were staring. Still, Gajeel didn't let go. He held on tighter.

"Thank you," Cana said quietly. In the distance, Bacchus nodded once.

"This isn't right!" Kagura shouted, marching up to Erza. "We were supposed to win! I was to have my revenge!"

"But I got my revenge instead! You were the one who betrayed me!" Shouting, the girls began to wrestle. Finally, they were pried apart, though it took about five boys each.

"What exactly is this great rivalry you two have!?" Lucy shouted at them. "How bad could it be!?"

"We were five," Erza started, "and she kissed my boyfriend!"

"He was my boyfriend!" Kagura shouted. "And you kissed him!"

"Because he was my boyfriend!"

"He was mine!"

"That's all!?" Lucy shrieked. "We just got beaten black and blue because you were stupid toddlers!? Where the hell is this boy now!?"

"Well, he moved away with his parents when he was six…" Erza admitted.

"Are you kidding me!?" Evergreen shrieked.

"You don't understand; Jerral was really cute!"

"Don't talk about my boyfriend like that!" Kagura snapped.

"Five years old… haven't seen him in a decade… still angry," Levy wept into Gajeel's shoulder. "I wanna go home!"

"I'll take you, Shrimp."

The whole crowd began to walk away, leaving Kagura and Erza to their argument without end.


	11. Debut Match

**Fairy High**

**Chapter 11**

**Debut Match**

Months passed since the game against Cerberus High. Gajeel became more settled into Fairy High. Levy helped him with his studies. Bacchus and Cana became closer, patching up their dispute. Rival teams came and went, easily vanquished by the triumphant Fairies.

"Oi, Shorty McShorterson!" Gajeel called, striding up behind Levy in the corridor. She sighed at the nickname, trying to let it slide off of her. He placed an object in her hands. It was a small piece of laminated paper with his photo and name on it. "I got my license!"

"Gajeel, I've seen fake driving licenses before and this isn't even close! I mean, it's laminated paper, not plastic!"

"No, you dimwit, my pro license."

Levy looked up at him blankly.

"My professional boxing license," he enunciated slowly. "It means I'm now a legally registered boxer and start taking professional matches. Soon, I'll be the middleweight champion of the world!"

"Oh, wow," Levy enthused, her face lightening as understanding flared. "That's so cool! I had no idea you needed a license!"

"These fists of mine are lethal weapons. They need regulation," Gajeel replied smugly. His normally cocky smile became unusually sincere. "I have you to thank for all of this, you know. You've really turned my life around. Levy, I have something to ask you."

"What!?" Levy asked sharply, face blooming red like a tomato.

"Will you… come and watch my debut match?" He asked, pulling out a pair of tickets. "Oi Shrimp, why've you gone all red?"

**===][===**

"I don't know what to do, Lu-chan," Levy moped. She sat on Lucy's bed, hugging a pillow to her. Lucy placed a hand on the blunette's forehead.

"I thought you must have a temperature to be speaking crazy like that – what do you mean you don't know!? You go to the match and cheer him on, being all cute and sexy like you do!" Levy flustered a little bit at the last part, but tried to focus on the important thing.

"Boxing's so scary. It's two men trying to kill each other. I don't think I'd have any interest in it. It's not my world."

Lucy put her finger to her lips. "This seems like an easy problem to solve. You need a book on boxing."

**===][===**

"Did you know that when you fall down, you have ten seconds to stand up?" Levy asked, nose deep in 'The Official Boxing Guide'.

"Well yeah, that's basic-"

"And that fighters are supposed to touch gloves at the start out of respect?"

"Yeah."

"And that if you suffer bleeding, the doctor might stop the match?"

"Shrimp."

"And if you down three times in a round, it's match over?"

"Shrimp."

"And there are four rounds for a beginner, but they go up to twelve rounds for a world championship match?"

"Shrimp!"

"And that if you don't KO it comes down to a judge call?"

"Shrimp! I'm holding you upside down! How are you still not noticing me!? How am I supposed to get your attention away from a book?" That, Gajeel, is the ultimate question in life.

**===][===**

Lucy accompanied Levy to the arena hall, since Gajeel had given her two tickets. She smiled at how nervous her friend was – the cutest little bundle of nerves she'd ever seen. They both looked quite out of place. As they went in, the hall was empty.

"I guess people don't come to watch the amateurs," Levy said thoughtfully. "Maybe it's for the best, I don't want to have a problem seeing over the crowd in front of me. Let's find out seats."

Both girls felt a little surprised to recognize the announcer as Jason. Apparently he did a lot of announcing work? They winced and grimaced at the early fights – featherweights and lightweights. Soon, the junior middleweight match ended after a vicious ko.

"Coool! And now the middleweight bout. Making his appearance for his debut match, weighing in at 158 pounds, Gajeeeeeeeeeeeeel Reeeeeeeeeeeeeedfox! Coooooooooooooooool!"

Gajeel strode down the aisle, form shrouded by a black robe. Lucy noted Levy blushing with a wry smile. She was smitten, alright. Gajeel looked every inch the warrior born as he advanced calmly before catapulting over the ropes. He rose his arms, beckoning the crowd to cheer. None did so loudly as Levy. She looked embarrassed afterwards, but Gajeel was smiling.

"Cooool! And his opponent, coming from the snowy country of Russia, weighting in at 154 pounds – Vorg Zangief!" A red-haired man approached the other way, his face stony and passive.

"He's Russian?" Lucy asked. "Isn't that a little odd?"

"Not really. It's common for athletes to move to countries were the sport is bigger. According to Gajeel, this guy was amazing on the amateur scene, and is an incredible technician. He's above the level of the average four rounder. But my Gajeel's also far stronger than the average!"

"_My_ Gajeel?" Lucy asked, making Levy blush. To her relief, the bell rang, followed by the dull impact of their gloves touching for the first time.

**===][===**

Moments prior, Lily was talking to Gajeel in the corner. "Remember, he's amazing with his hands. He's going to be throwing feints at you constantly. It'll be hard to know where his punches will end up coming from."

"Psh. If I dodge every punch, then it doesn't matter if it's a feint or not, does it?"

"Confidence is good, Gajeel. Stupidity is not. You can't stop every punch."

"Watch me." The bell rang, and Gajeel stood. Lily snarled in annoyance but dutifully ducked under the ropes and left the ring. Gajeel extended his fist into the centre of the ring and Vorg smacked a fist into it. The boxer's way of saying hello.

Them the fight was on.

Gajeel stormed forward at blistering pace, stepping in and shouldering a left hook from a startled Vorg. A right flew out, right into the Russian man's face and he keeled over.

"D-down! Not even ten seconds have passed and Gajeel scores a blistering down! Cooooooool!"

"Gajeel's really strong!" Lucy said with wonderment.

"And in a four rounder match, two downs is the limit! If he goes down again this round, Gajeel wins! Go Gajeel!"

Gajeel felt annoyed as he waited in the corner. Vorg had swayed back, lessening the impact at the last moment. A KO had turned into a down. It was disappointing. He watched as the Russian man stood and the referee checked him. The ref raised his hands and declared: "Box!"

Vorg instantly went to rush in, but his legs wobbled, still unsteady from the punch he'd taken to his jaw. Grinning, Gajeel pressed his advantage, rushing the ailing Russian. He was somewhat surprised to be held off by a flurry of pinpoint attacks that he had to guard quickly. Vorg did have amazing hand speed and eyesight.

Legs recovered, Vorg pressed with a barrage of hooks, sweeping in low and repeatedly towards Gajeel's ribs. The taller man took one step backwards, then another, but then there was a tremendous impact and suddenly the Russian was on the floor again. The referee swung his hands over his head and the gong rang. Two downs within a minute. A flawless debut.

"W-what just happened!?" Lucy cried. "I didn't understand at all!"

"I think that Vorg was focusing too much on Gajeel's lower body. He expected Gajeel to guard or dodge, but Gajeel stepped in, shot down the next hook with his offhand and simply punched him over his attacks."

"It seems too simple. Shouldn't Gajeel's punch have been obvious?"

"Lu-chan… if a man was swinging at you like that, could you have the presence of mind to step in?"

"N-no…"

"Neither did Vorg. He wasn't expecting it. Gajeel is like a wild animal!" Levy smiled brightly, and then suffered prolonged teasing from Lucy about just how and where Gajeel had acted like a wild animal before. The bedroom, perhaps?

**===][===**

"Kyaaah! That's wild! Now I really wanna fight him!" Bacchus laughed, pouring the shot glasses.

"You should have seen Levy," Cana replied with a dirty grin. "Our innocent little bookworm is so in love that she's like a little puppy dog wagging its tail. She talks about him all the time now." Cana reached out to take her shot glass and there was a moment's silence as they were downed followed by the staccato raps of them hitting the table again. "I was faster."

"Psh. As if. Round two." He began to refill the glasses. "But you know there's something I've been wanting to talk to you about. "The end of the season's coming up. You've only got one more game left in you now."

"Yeah, we're up against the Sabre's last. I hear they're good."

"Princess, we played them last game and they demolished us."

"Well don't lump us Fairies in with you Hound Dogs," Cana replied with a dirty chuckle. However, Bacchus didn't laugh.

"There's two things you need to know. When Phantom split, some of their members went to Sabre. Namely, Raios."

"Yeah, so?"

"Cana, he's almost definitely the one who hurt your little friend." Cana's eyes widened, remembering the state Levy had been in. That had been due to that guy? She tried to shrug it off.

"Levy has Gajeel now. Raios wouldn't dare hurt her again."

"You're assuming that he won't attack someone else. Or that he's sane. I wouldn't say he was firing on all cylinders having crossed his path. But anyway, I said there are two things. The second thing's called Minerva."

"Who?"

"Head of their cheerleaders. And I tell you Cana, I've met a lot of scum and reprobates in my time, but nothing has scared me as much as her. She's like a spider wearing human flesh. There's something sickly and terrifying about her."

"That's a little overly melodramatic," Cana scoffed.

"Maybe. Just remember, one psychopath ordered Raios to hurt you once. Just think what another might do."

**===][===**

"Sting. Rogue."

Sting shivered to hear the voice approach him from behind. The principal's daughter gliding down the corridor with that arrogant strut, black uniform sexy and deadly. The fact that she chose to indulge Raios' nickname bothered him deeply.

"As you know, this final match will decide first and second place between our two teams. Is it not wonderful that the final match of the season has so much weight behind it?"

"Y-yes, Minerva-sama."

"And I am sure that you know that second place is as good as last place?"

"Yes, Minerva-sama."

"Good. We will win this match, and we will do it by any means necessary. For example, Rogue's commendable action against the Fairy runt."

"T-that was never proven-" Rogue stopped talking as Minerva slammed him into the lockers.

"Don't fuck with me, peasant! I know what your sort are like and what you're capable of. You did it and you enjoyed it. You probably still masturbate in the shower to the memory like the pathetic piece of shit you are. I'm not asking you to do it again; I'm asking you to do it _better._"

"W-what do you…?"

"Break into her house, break every bone in her body and string what's left from their goalposts. That's how you send a message."


	12. A Night of Bloodshed

**Fairy High**

**Chapter 12**

**A Night of Bloodshed**

Punch.

Punch.

Punch.

"Stop. Please stop," Levy wept.

Punch.

Punch.

Punch.

"I said to stop!" Levy screamed. With an angry roar, Gajeel grabbed the beaten and bloody Rogue and slammed him into the wall of Levy's apartment.

"He was going to hurt you!" Gajeel shouted. "If I hadn't been here, he'd have beaten you again! Why shouldn't I give him the same treatment!?"

"Because you'll kill him if you don't stop!"

"I want to kill him," Gajeel snarled, bringing his face up to Rogue's. Gajeel had gone to Levy's apartment to study. A knock on the door. Levy crying out in alarm. Most of the next few minutes were a red haze to Gajeel as he mercilessly beat the hell out of Rogue. He had been going to hurt Shrimp! Again! He drew back his fist once more, but tiny hands grasped it.

"Gajeel! I'm safe now! It's okay! You have to remember what you told me; a boxer's fists are weapons to be regulated; you can get in serious trouble for fighting like this!" Levy implored him. "Besides, it was me he was attacking; you shouldn't trouble yourself over it!"

"Why wouldn't a man be angry when his girlfriend is attacked!?" Gajeel shouted angrily.

"Huh?" Levy blinked.

"Uh… did I… fuck, now I'm gonna beat you harder!"

"W-wait," Rogue gasped, spitting out blood. "Please, I was ordered to do this! I didn't want to!"

Gajeel leaned down, clenching his fist. "You better start talking, and you better start talking quickly."

**===][===**

"Minerva?" Erza asked. She sat at a table in a coffee shop, opposite her lifelong rival, Kagura. The other girl harrumphed slightly, clearly not wanting to be nice, but having locked herself into the bet which she had lost.

"I met her when our teams clashed. She's… a scary sort of person. Possibly even psychopathic."

"Jeez, what did she do?"

Kagura wrapped her hands around her cup to warm them. "I can't prove anything. But three of our players were hospitalized in 'random' assaults the week prior to the match."

"Three!?" Erza almost spat out her coffee.

"Indeed. Three of our top players." A wry smile played across her features. "They also tried to attack Bacchus, but he was more than capable of defending himself. All she cares about is winning. She'll step over anyone in her way. You'll have to be careful."

"I'm not scared of her."

"It's not you that should be."

**===][===**

The same night that Rogue tried to attack Levy, there was more afoot. Levy had been the demoraliser, but Minerva had much more pragmatic goals that night. Every single one of the Fairies' football players was attacked that night. Some could defend themselves adequately. Laxus broke the jaw of one of his assailants. Natsu beat the ever-loving crap out of the three who descended on him.

However, most could not fight off three men at a time. In one night, the streets ran red with the blood of Fairies.

**===][===**

"This… is it?" Macao gasped. He looked at the remaining line up he had available to him. Natsu, Gray, Gajeel, Laxus, Elfman and Romeo. Six players remaining after one night.

"I can't believe this!" Natsu shouted into the sky. "How many of our friends are in hospital, due to a stupid football game!? I know some people take this sport too seriously, but this is insane!"

"If it makes you feel any better, one of their players is also in hospital," Gajeel growled with feral joy. "He tried to attack Levy last night. Now he's in a traction, gihi!"

"Cana's dad is on the case," Gray moped, "but in the end of the day, none of their players were in the attacks except for Rogue. It'll likely be all fobbed off on them, and the school won't take responsibility for it."

"It's so unmanly!" Elfman bellowed. "This is cowardly!"

"Fried and Bixlow aren't too badly off, but the game's two days away. They can't recover in time," Laxus said sadly, shaking his head.

"Let me help!" A voice cried. They turned to see Totomaru sprinting over to them. "Look, I know I'm new here and all, but I heard what happened, and I want to help! I couldn't convince Sol or Aria… but Gajeel and Juvia want to help, and I was a decent player for Phantom!"

"You were the best, gihi!" Gajeel declared.

"It doesn't matter. We need at least eleven players to make a team. So we're four short at the moment." Romeo hung his head, defeated. "I can't see anything besides the fact that we've lost. We don't have any players left."

"Yes, you do." Erza came marching across the grass field, her cheerleaders in tow. "You have us."

"We can't, Erza," Macao stated. "The rules specify that only boys can participate. Sure, we had the game against the Mermaids a while ago, but that was a one-time only deal. We can't use you."

"Yes, you can. I've informed the football board and Sabre High of our decision. There is no way they'll back down from our challenge, lest they look weak. They'll accept, thinking that eleven boys can beat our hybrid team, but we'll show them everything we're made of."

"It's gonna be dangerous out there," Gajeel noted with a fierce grin. "This one is war."

"We want to help," Levy said strongly. "Even if we're not as big or strong."

"Wait a minute," Laxus said, rubbing his chin thoughtfully. "Remember the throwing plays the girls pulled off? Think about if Elfman or I start throwing… how much extra distance could we get?"

"You could throw the midget halfway down the field!" Gajeel exclaimed. "It'd be awesome! Even Lisanna… Lucy's probably a bit heavy…"

"Hey!" Lucy barked.

"Just those Sabres wait," Natsu said with a confident expression. "This is the strength of our comrades, our bonds together. We'll crush them for what they've done. We won't just beat them; we'll humiliate them."

**===][===**

"They went that far!?" Bacchus cried, face paling. "Your entire team was attacked… when they played us, they just took out a few important players. That was bad, but to lose so many… it's hard to imagine."

"We won't back down before them," Cana stated proudly. "We'll repay the debt."

"You'll be on the field?"

"Of course. I'm one of the strongest girls. They need me."

"It'll be dangerous."

"I don't care."

"You'll be light on strong players. A few injuries could see you short-handed."

Cana shrugged. "I don't see any way around that, do you?"

Bacchus grinned. "Well, I was wondering how long it would take to fill in some transfer paperwork. I've got some payback that I'd like to deliver too."

**===][===**

This game was being played on the Sabre's field. Not only was it already a hostile crowd under hostile conditions, but the Fairies weren't setting up any cheerleaders. Every girl was being held back as back-up for the football team in case of injuries.

And injuries were expected.

"How desperate they must be," Minerva sniped triumphantly. "Reduced to a bunch of weakling wretches. Our only loss was that basket case."

"A lot of our students were arrested on assault charges. It's possible they might face jail time," Yukino said meekly from besides her.

"I repeat; nothing of value was lost," Minerva responded with an evil smirk. "We will win, securing the championship and more glory for our school. More glory for my father. More glory for me."

Sting led the Sabre team onto the pitch, holding his fists aloft as cheers rained down upon them. Besides him were Orga and Rufus, two of their star players. Inwardly, he missed Rogue. He was a bit weak in the head, but he just needed a good friend in Sting's opinion.

"Cooooool!" Jason announced over the speakers. "Now here come the Fairies – what the!?"

Sting's eyes widened in shock as the Fairies marched onto the pitch. Wait, what was going on here? What had the Fairies done!?

**I think this might be my worst chapter in any fanfic ever! Short, and full of plot holes. Still, I wanted to set up for the next chapter here, so I'm stopping. Please send your angry e-mails (and explosive devices) to Justin Bieber. Thank you.**


	13. The World

**Fairy High 13**

**Chapter 13**

**The World**

**Look, I'm gonna be honest. My interest in this fic is waning. I mean, I was planning on ending it within a couple of chapters anyway, but the fact is I'm running out of material. I don't want to leave you guys hanging though, so lets' wrap this up.**

The Fairy High team was marching onto the pitch right now. Sting almost choked. "Hey, you guys aren't the fairy team at all!"

"Eh?" Gajeel said languidly at the head of the procession. He was flanked by Kagura and Bacchus. "I've been a Fairy for months. So has Tots and Juvia there. These guys? Got their transfer paperwork through a few days ago. Seems they wanted a piece of you. Fancy that. Hey Kags, how many players do we have on the team now?"

"Forty two. And don't call me 'Kags'."

"Boys and girls. Fairies, Phantoms, Hounds and Mermaids. You Sabres are fucked, Gihi!"

And so they were. At the end of every drive, the Fairies rotated players, keeping them fresh and throwing whole different teams at their opponents. Teams of nothing but lightning fast blitzers and runners. Teams of nothing but powerful blockers. Teams that threw wildly unpredictable plays at their opponents. By the half time whistle, the Sabres were flagging immensely.

Minerva stormed into their locker room, snarling. "What the fuck do you think you lot are doing!? They're stomping over you like a bunch of baby seals!"

"They have so many players!" Sting argued. "They're constantly fresh, and we're being worn down! There's nothing that we can do!"

"Oh yes, there is. Get me a uniform."

**===][===**

"They're bringing her on?" Levy asked nervously as the Sabres rejoined the pitch. "Isn't she supposed to be that sadistic monster that'll do anything to win?"

"She's not manly, so there's nothing to fear!" Elfman declared. This was their turn. Give Levy the ball and watch as Elfman's manly muscles hurled her halfway down the pitch. It might not work, but the shock factor would be worth its weight in gold. "Don't be so nervous, little one."

"I am not… you know what? Maybe you have the right to say that, big guy." They took to the line-up and within seconds, the ball was handed back to Levy. The front line pushed forward, making some room that Elfman stepped into.

"O. TA. KO!" With an almighty heave, Elfman through the small girl far over the line of scrimmage and into the midfield. Instantly, she dashed towards the endzone, dodging spryly out of the way of two stunned Sabres. She had done it! No, Levy, your steps are short, you can be caught. Focus, and keep running.

Just before she got to the endzone, a swiftly moving Sabre overtook her and slammed her into the ground hard, making the crowd groan with disappointment. Gajeel, watching from the sidelines, was happy though. Shrimp had advanced the ball almost the whole way. As the Sabre who had tackled her stood up, he could see it was Minerva, and she was grinning.

Levy wasn't getting up. Her helmet had come loose and blood trickled down her face. The ref was blowing his whistle, calling for the medics. Gajeel sprinted over to her as fast as her could.

"Shrimp! Are you alright!?"

"It huuuurts," Levy moaned. Gajeel could see the line on her cheek as he brushed her hair back. Whatever had made this had been thin and sharp. On top of that, she was clutching her midriff. Minerva had struck her more than once.

"Don't worry, shortstuff. Leave the rest to us. You just rest up." Gajeel stood, letting the medics get to Levy. He saw the concerned looks on the faces of her team. No, they were his team now. "Listen up, I can't prove it, and I can't believe it, but; that bitch is carrying a weapon."

"What!?" Natsu shouted.

"Shrimp had a cut on her cheek. I think it was a knife."

"What are we gonna do?"

"Do what you want. I know what I'm gonna do." Gajeel clenched a fist and Bacchus extended a hand to grab it.

"Oi, you know as full well as I do that the boxing commission does not look kindly on boxers who use their fists outside the ring. We are martial artists, and must use our talents wisely." Gajeel glared at him in such a way that Bacchus knew his words were having no effect. "Don't get me wrong. We'll take her down. But we'll do it better."

"I want to kill her," Gajeel stated, almost in tears with pent up anger.

"I know. But Levy doesn't want you in jail. Now, here's the plan."

**===][===**

From that point, the game proceeded normally, but there was a clear pullback from the Fairies. No one wanted to be anywhere near that knife. But strangely, they didn't seemed cowed. Instead, they taunted the Sabres, making clucking noises and chicken motions. Several yellow cards were handed out as some of them mooned the enemy.

Minerva was becoming more and more angry. Not only were they still mocking her despite her concealed weapon, but this Phantom and Hound stayed on her constantly. Over and over again, they had blocked and tackled her at every opportunity and she stung. Damn them! Mind clouded with anger, Minerva resolved to do anything to the next one who touched her.

Seeing the change in her disposition, Bacchus waved Gajeel back and pushed in to hit her again. He saw the glint of silver fall from her sleeve. The triumphant smile on her face. How everything seemed to go silent in the face of the potentially fatal situation.

But Bacchus wasn't sacrificing himself – he was a black belt in cleaving hook. His hands snapped forward, grasping her wrist and violently disarming her with a savage flick. The knife flew halfway across the pitch where it slammed into the turf. Right in front of the referee. He looked down dumbly as the blade quivered. Silence slowly fell over the stadium.

"Ah! Ah! A knife! A knife!" Bacchus cried in a bout of terrible acting. "Where did it come from!?"

"Hey!" The referee shouted. "Who brought a weapon onto the field!?"

"I don't know," Minerva replied. "I didn't see."

"It was her." Minerva's eyes whipped around in shock. It was Sting who had spoken. "Fuck you. I'm done working for you. Ref! That was her weapon; I saw it fall out when they tackled each other!"

The chaos was immense. Gildartz, who had been watching the match ran on to arrest Minerva on the spot. Squad cars pulled up sirens blazing. The match was lost under the yellow tape now surrounding the site. The following day, Sabre High officially declared defeat and withdrew from the competition.

**===][===**

"It's fine, stop fussing!" Levy snapped. She was sitting in her bed, about a thousand fluffy pillows supporting her. She was drowning in blankets. A gauze rested upon her cheek.

"NO!" Gajeel barked. "You looked after me when I was injured, now I'm gonna look after you!"

"Gajeel, you were hospitalized with a gunshot wound! This was a scratch on my cheek! You can't compare the two situations!"

"I told you once, a boyfriend should look after his girlfriend!"

"Gajeel!" Levy cried blushing.

"Goddamnit! What more do you want me to say!? That I love you!? Just accept that you're my girlfriend already!"

"Well, you're such a charming person, how could I not be?" Levy replied, laughing. Gajeel took a pillow and placed it over her face. She continued laughing nonetheless. He took it off and she was red-faced and still smiling.

"It's not damn fair if you're gonna be all cute like that," Gajeel growled gently, reaching down and kissing her.

**===][===**

The year was coming to an end now. The Fairies had taken the trophy for the football league, and brought all under their banner in friendship. Kagura and Erza had patched up their friendship. Sabre High's leadership was changing. The Phantoms had mingled into Fairy High more. Both Jose and Minerva were now in jail for assault.

Gajeel looked at his exam scores in amazement. He had passing grades. Not brilliant, perhaps, but passing. He owed it all to Levy. He owed his entire life to Levy didn't he? She was walking up to him now. He tried not to look at her results – a column of As would be most depressing to see.

"So, are you going to continue studying?" Levy asked.

"No, I think I'm done with school now. I have a career that suits me. Still, thank you for everything, Shorty."

Levy frowned as he rustled her hair. "But I'll see you again, won't I? I don't want to lose contact."

"Shrimp, I said I love you and I meant it." He glared briefly at other girls squeezing in the background. "You're mine now. Forever."

Levy giggled. "Sounds good to me."

**===5 Years Later===**

"That's a hell of a rock, Levy-chan!" Lucy said, marvelling at the engagement ring on her friend's finger. The smaller woman giggled. Her life had changed massively in the last few years. She'd gone from being the poorest people she knew to the youngest professor of literature at the University. Her house was rather nice in her opinion. Of course, the second income in her family didn't hurt!

"So, we'll be off to Natsu's match soon, won't we?" Levy asked, looking at her watch.

"Tch, your Gajeel was such a bad influence on him, you know! He took up boxing immediately after graduation. I couldn't believe it, but he does love fighting so much!" They headed outside where Loke had Lucy's Limo humming. They headed to the enormous Korokaen Hall, the largest venue in the country. Lucy chuckled. "I can't believe that Natsu already has a world title match! Isn't he amazing!?"

"He started so far behind Gajeel too," Levy agreed. Inside, the stadium was huge, thronging with thousands of people. The arena went dark and people cheered as the announcer spoke.

"We are happy to bring you the Middleweight World Title March! And entering from the blue corner, weighing in at 182 pounds is Natsu Dragneel, the Fire Dragon!" Natsu raced down the aisle, his cloak like a stylized red dragon. He vaulted the ropes and shadow-boxed to the crowds cheers. "A relative newcomer with fifteen matches to his name, but all fifteen are wins by KO! Truly, the strongest challenger!"

"And now, the World Champion enters! He walks in, sheltered by his iron mantle. Weighing in at 184 pounds, a grizzled veteran with twenty eight matches and twenty eight wins to support that belt around his waist. Ladies and gentlemen, I give you the World Middleweight Champion; Gajeel 'Iron Dragon' Redfox!"

The crowd's cheers shook the stadium, slamming feet thundering. Levy cheered as much as her lungs would allow as Gajeel slowly strode down the aisle, Lily walking just besides him. He took off his cloak and handed it to his trainer as he entered the ring. He held the belt aloft and the crowd cheered harder.

"That'll be mine soon, Metalface," Natsu promised.

"Just you try," Gajeel responded. "I have a reason in this crowd why I will never fall."

"Coooooooool! This world championship is scheduled for twelve rounds! Can both fighters please touch gloves and head to their corners?" Gajeel and Natsu glared at each other as silence fell over the stadium. Gajeel hadn't been lying. She meant the world to him, so he had claimed the world for her. He pledged the rest of his life to her, and had no plans to ever fail in providing for her as best he could.

The bell rung.

**Rocky 3 freeze frame ending! Bwahahahaha! **

**Yeah, sorry. But I'd run out of creative juices for this one. I hope you enjoyed it while it lasted.  
**


End file.
